Shattered Past: Forgotten Memories
by lordxsauron
Summary: A seven year old Pyrrha Nikos wakes up in alley with no memories, no family, and only her weapons. An injury will lead her into being taken into the Arc family. As she tries to forge a new life with a new family, she is haunted by something so terrible from her past. She strives to become the best she can be, and become a huntress with the support of Jaune. (Arkos)
1. Chapter 1

**Shattered Past Book 1: Chapter 1**

 **I DO NOT OWN RWBY**

 ***Drip Drip Drip Drip Drip***

A cold dark storm hanged over the great city of Mistral. A cold breeze through a dark and damp alley filled with puddles. The wind was harsh and unforgiving.

 ***drip* *drop* *drip* *drop* *drip* *drop***

Droplets fell on a poor and forgotten child. Her emerald eyes opened to the freezing winding biting at her exposed her skin. Her red hair that was in a ponytail was caked in filth, mud, and blood. She pushed herself on the wall to find a large knapsack was rested beside her. It had a name. "Pyrrha Nikos." She read out loud. Who was Pyrrha Nikos?

The redhead opened the knapsack to find a sword, shield, headpiece, and a note. She took out the note.

 _'Hello._

 _Your name is Pyrrha Nikos, you are a seven year old, and you have no parents. Do not attempt to remember the past, do not attempt to find your parents. You have been a chance to live a normal life, don't waste it. This weapon and shield are now yours, as is the headpiece._

 _Trust no one, but yourself, rely on no one but yourself.'_

She stuffed the note back in the knapsack.

"Pyrrha Nikos." She said again. It was true, she didn't know her name or even her age. She didn't know where she was or how she got there. She looked down to notice that her hair, clothing, bronze colored shirt with red shield and spear, was drenched in what appeared to be blood.

What happened? She thought to herself, she tried to remember, but nothing came up, no memories, no anything. Her memory was a blank slate. She picked up the sword and shield and slung them over her back as she carried the knapsack that had the headpiece.

"Hey there little girl." A tall man in a trench coat said from a distance. He pulled out a gun. "Why don't you give me that bag? I'll take the weapons too, you are much too young to have such dangerous toys." The man said.

"No, these are mine!" Pyrrha shouted back with a growl. She felt attached to them for some reason and wouldn't let some stranger take them from her

"Don't be stupid!" The man shouted as he raised his gun. Without a thought, Pyrrha ran out of alley.

"God damn it." He aimed the pistol right for the girl. The girl turned quickly to see the man pointing his gun right at her. She heard a ***Bang***

Pyrrha felt something slam into her unprotected shoulder. She fell to the ground giving out a yelp in agony. She felt as if a bolt of she got speared with red hot poker. She tried to lift herself but her refused to hold any wait. She collapsed back on the ground.

Another man stood over her. She looked up at the man standing above her. He was an older man with slightly messy blonde hair with streaks of gray along the sides. He carried a sword and a shield with golden arcs on it.

 ***BANG* *BANG* BANG*** The assailant's gun went off aimed at the man with the sword and shield. He raised his shield ***DING* *DING* *DING*** The bullets ricocheted off.

The assailant cursed and turn to run away. The man with sword and shield watched as the assailant ran away, he turned his attention to the little girl who had been shot. To his surprise, she wasn't crying, she did however have tear streaks coming out as she squeezed her eyes shut trying to shut out the pain. He also noted all of the caked blood in her hair and her clothing, which was clearly there before the gunshot.

The man knelt down. "Hey there… everything is going to be alright." He tried to comfort the wound. She held her shoulder. "Can I see your shoulder? I need to make sure you're alright." The girl opened her eyes.

She looked at the man who was kneeling over her. She knew that note said not to trust anyone, but this man wanted to check to see if she was alright. Her shoulder felt like it went through a shredder. "I'm not here to hurt you, I want you to help you." He said.

She nodded and lifted her hand away, that's when she saw the blood bubble up from the wound. After a few minutes, her shoulder felt numb, her eyelids started to feel heavy.

"Hey there, come on stay awake on me." The man gently picked her up, weapons and knapsack all. "Come on, focus on my voice. What's your name?" He asked quietly.

"Pyrrha" She said as the man rushed with her in her arms to the hospital which was a few block away.

"It's nice to meet you Pyrrha. My name is John. So what do you like to do?" He tried to keep her awake and talking.

"I don't know…." She said quietly, her speech slightly slurred.

"Who are you parent? What are they like?" He tried again, one more block.

"I… d..on'..t kn…ow…" She said as her eyes started to close. She was losing a lot of blood. John cursed. He enhanced his speed using his aura within a few minutes he was at the hospital. He ran into the emergency care unit and found the nearest doctor.

"I need help, this little girl was shot!" The doctor looked over the little redheaded girl.

"Nurse get me a stretcher! We've got a gunshot wound." The doctor ordered. The nurse quickly arrived with the stretcher. "We'll take it from here sir." The doctor said John gently put her down on the stretcher. John decided he could miss his flight back home, and decided to see if there was anything he could do for this little girl.

He went over to the waiting room and sat down. He sighed, waiting was not a strength of his. How the hell could someone leave a little girl out on the street with a sword, shield, and bag. Speaking of bag, he opened it to see an ornate bronze head dress with a emerald tear drop jewel suspended by a small chain on each side of the piece. A rather beautiful object.

He also found a note that was apparently already opened, opened it up to reveal a hand written note. He read it outloud "'Hello. Your name is Pyrrha Nikos, you are a seven year old, and you have no parents. Do not attempt to remember your past, do not attempt to find your parents. You have been a chance to live a normal life, don't waste it. This weapon and shield are now yours, as is the headpiece. Trust no one, but yourself, rely on no one but yourself… Huh…"

So this child was an orphan with no past, no parents, weapons, and headdress. He sighed, what to do…. What to do… He decided he should at least notify his family, he picked up his scroll and dialed for his wife. Joan.

"Hey there honey."

"…."

"Well I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to be late getting back."

"….."

"I don't know how to say this, so I'll just say it. I found an orphaned girl who was shot, so I rushed her to the hospital. I'm going to wait until she wakes up."

"….."

"…?"

"I don't know, if I was there faster, I could have prevented it. I just wanted to stay to see if she'll be alright. I want to know if she has anyother family."

"…."

"Then I don't know what I'll do… I should get going. I love you Honey"

"…."

"Bye." He ended the call. He leaned back in his chair, deep in thought. One question kept popping in his mind, what to do about this little girl? He stood up and headed outside to clear his head. He noticed a small street vendor that selling stuffed animals. He walked over and purchased a small bear. He gave the street vendor the money, and headed back to the waiting room. He sat back down and looked at the bear.

What happened to her parents? Does she have any family? What if she doesn't? All of these thoughts just collided together into a frustrating bubble of helplessness. "Mr. Arc?" The Doctor came out. That was relatively fast, John looked at his watch, five hours had already passed, he guess he lost track of time. John stood up.

"Is she going to be alright?" John asked immediately.

The doctor nodded. "She will be. We were able to get the bullet out, she lost some blood, but she'll make a full recovery." John gave out a sigh of relief.

"Thanks gods." He said.

"She's awake if you wish to see her." The doctor said, to which John nodded. The doctor led him down hallway and into her room. There she was, a small girl with red hair done up in ponytail, who slightly shaking.

"Thank you doctor." John said. The doctor said his good-byes and left the two in their room.

"Hey there Pyrrha." John said gently. She grimaced in pain realizing that she whipped her head around.

"Hello…" She said timidly eyes that were looking down in sadness, guilt, or shame. John couldn't tell, but he could tell it broke his hurt.

"I got you something." John said as he pulled up his chair next to her bed. He handed her a stuffed bear.

Pyrrha looked at the strange man. He had saved her from that stranger who shot her, but why was he still here? Worst yet, he was giving her a gift, a stuffed bear. It was nice, but she didn't know the man, he was basically being what a father should be, yet where was her father? Why wasn't he here to give her a present? Why wasn't he here to make sure she was okay? Her vision started to get misty.

She hugged the bear, tears coming down her cheeks. John got up and hugged her. It was good to be hugged, but the same dark thought loomed in her mind, why wasn't her parents here. "Ssssshhh… It's going to be alright." She realized it wouldn't be. She was alone, she had no where to go. He gently let go of her when she calmed down

"Pyrrha do you know where your parents are?" John asked. All she could do was shake her head. "Do you know if any other family members?" Pyrrha could say nothing, realizing how truly alone she was in the world. No memories of family, loved ones, of really anything. She quietly sobbed into her teddy bear.

John looked down at the girl, feeling so incredibly helpless to the girl. She was alone in the city. Hell, she got shot and would have died if he didn't show up. He had an idea though. "Pyrrha how old are you?" Knowing full well how old she was from the note.

"Seven." She said meekly.

"You know what…. I have a son, Jaune who is the same age as you." He smiled as she looked up at him.

"Is he nice? Like you?" Faint beacon of hope could be heard in voice.

"I think he may be nicer then me!" He chuckled. "And his sisters are pretty nice too."

"R-really?" A certain hope filling her voice.

"Oh yeah, I think they would like to meet you."

"W-why? They don't know me." A dark cloud hung over her as she frowned.

"I would like to say that sometimes a stranger is just a friend you haven't met yet." John smiled. "I met you, I would like to think that we were friends, wouldn't you?" Pyrrha was naturally suspicious of strangers. After all, that note told her not to trust anyone, it wasn't wrong either when she got shot.

Then again, it was a stranger saved her. It was a stranger who rescued her, it was stranger who said that he would like to be friends with her. She nodded at her friend. "Me too." She agreed.

"Do you want to meet them?" John asked. Pyrrha blinked at the man.

"I-I don't know…" She looked down at the bear. "I…. I…. want to find my parents."

"Pyrrha I promise that we will find out together." Heck John wanted to find the scumbags who left this poor, adorable girl in an alley. "You can stay with my family." She looked down at the bear, squeezing it.

"I don't want to be any trouble." Pyrrha muttered into the bear. John hugged her. "You could never be any trouble."

"B-b-but…. Why…." She stuttered. "W—why would you want to help me? You don't know me…"

"Well I think you are a nice person, and I like to help nice people." She looked up to him with a smile.

"Thank you." She said warmly as she yawned.

"You sound sleepy." John chuckled as he let go of her as she smiled and wiped her eye and nodded. "I'll let you get some rest." He started to get up.

"Please don't leave." She looked at him with a frown and scared eyes.

"I need a make a quick call, but I promise I'll be back." John said she nodded sadly. He got out of his chair and headed towards the hall, before he left, he turned to say "I'll be right back." He went out in the hallway took out his scroll to call his wife.

"Hey honey"

"….."

"Hey… um… I don't know how to say this, so I'll just say it… I'm bringing home the girl. She has no family and nowhere to go. I can't just leave her."

"….."

"Really? What a relief. Thank you so much."

"…..?"

"We should be home in a couple of days."

"…..!"

"Me too, and her name is Pyrrha Nikos. She's a sweet girl you'll meet."

"…"

John chuckled. "Thank you, I see you in a bit."

"….."

"Bye." He closed his scroll. That was better then what he expected. He went back to the room to see emerald eyes waiting for him. He smiled at the little girl.

"See not too long." He smiled back. "Now come on, I'm tired, you're tired, everyone is tired." Pyrrha giggled.

He pulled up Pyrrha's cover while he tried to get comfortable in the chair.

"Good night" Pyrrha yawned.

"Good night." John yaned back.

Pyrrha drifted off asleep happy, but something was nagging her mind. Something dark and menacing was waiting for her drift off into peaceful sleep.

 **A/N**

 **Hey guys!**

 **Here is my secret project! I present Shattered Past!**

 **Now... This is going be canon yet not canon... This is also going to be a slow series with multiple "books." Like Arkos Books. That being said, don't worry, I am still writing Arkos Books 3 as well as Halo Remnant of the Past.**

 **Now for this story... this will be a different story, characters will be the same, yet different. This will be a story character growth of Jaune and Pyrrha, through a new background setting with a different kind of plot.**

 **If you guys liked the story, let me know. Leave me you reviews and pms. I like to hear what you have to say. If you have feedback and such, let me know. I'm trying to improve my writing. As for the story, if you like leave a follow and/or favorite. Got reactions, questions, opinion, prediction? Share them. Like I said, I love to hear from all of my readers.**

 **Ending this A/N I wanted to leave a special shout out to The White Wulf who just finished his Journey: Path of Hero Season 1. I highly recommend it. I started reading it, I love the plot, great OC development, and overall an enjoyable read. Give it a shot if you haven't done so already!**

 **Thank you,**

 **-Lordxsauron**


	2. Chapter 2

**Shattered Past Book 1 Chapter 2**

 **I DO NOT OWN RWBY**

A young seven year old Pyrrha darted awake. She found herself in a comfortable bed with crimson comforters over her. She looked around the room, it was a rather quaint room. It had red carpeting with a desk off to the side, right up against the window. A nightstand was right beside her bed with a few books on it with a picture frame on it. A closest was directly opposite from her bed. The room looked familiar, a little too familiar.

She picked up the picture frame, she saw her face in between two familiar people, an older man and woman, yet he couldn't make out their facial features. Each face had a large 'x' scratched over their faces. Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud

 ***THUD* *THUD***

Coming from the door that led out of the room. ***THUD THUD THUD THUD*** It grew more intense. ***BANG BANG BANG*** It shook the room. Pyrrha leapt out of bed and scrambled underneath her bed. Maybe no one would noticed.

 ***CRACK* *CRACK *BANG*** The door was kicked down with a tremendous force that made the door come down which made the child yelp in surprise. She scrambled to get her hands over her mouth. A pair of heavy boots walked into the bed room. ***CLUNK* *CLUNK* *CLUNK*** ***CLUNK*** "Where are you girl?" A voice quietly said with sinister intent. The boots moved over to the closest "Are you in the closest?" ***Clack***

 ***Click***

 ***BRAAAAAAAAAAP* *BRAAAAAAAAP BRAAAAAP BBBBBRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAPPPPP***

Pyrrha held her hands to her ears to block out the loud crescendo of an automatic rifle firing.

Bullet casings fell to the ground. "Not anymore." The man chuckled as he ripped open the closest.

"Shit." The man cursed. "Girly come on out, we just want to talk."

"What the hell are you doin up there?!" Another man shouted.

"Trying to find that damn girl!" The man in the room shouted.

"Well let's get going, it won't matter, we're burning the housed down, boss' orders." The other man shouted back.

"Fuck." The man in the room said as he walked out of the, he dropped the empty magazine on the ground and loaded a fresh one. Pyrrha just laid under her bed. Who were those men? Where was she? What just happened? Most importantly, why did he want to hurt her? She never did anything wrong to other people.

A few minutes went by, Pyrrha could smell smoke. She quickly rolled out from underneath her bed. She quickly got up and scrambled down the hallway. That was when she noticed the staircase that led to the main floor of the house was an inferno. The fire was quickly spreading up the stairs, consuming everything it touched.

The redhead ran back into her room. The fire was quickly spreading through the hallway. Pyrrha frantically looked around the room frantically thinking. There was one way she could make it out. She ran pulled her desk away from the window. She opened up the window to see the house consumed by fire. She backed up and sprinted towards the window. She darted out of the window and tried to tuck into a ball and brace for the ground.

She expected to land on the ground but she didn't. She landed in a thick water, she gasped for air but realized her mouth was being filled with this odd tasting water. Realizing it was water she scrambled towards the surface for air. She swam up and reached clawed at the surface. She gave a might heave to pull herself on the surface. She surfaced, panting for air. She looked at the water, it was a lot thicker… and redder then normal water. That when she realized… it wasn't water.

It was blood. She was in a pool of blood, and was pulling her down. She resisted as much as she could, but the pull was too strong to resist. She slowly sank down until all she could was see red and taste blood, everything went black.

John watched the poor girl go through the nightmare. It was a stark ending to what he assumed would have been a peaceful and calm sleep. He mentally berated himself, realizing that she was abandoned, and also shot, who could tell what her dreams were of. She was now thrashing around as much as she could even with her shoulder being injured.

John stood up and gently shook Pyrrha's good shoulder. "Pyrrha." Her eyes darted open immediately. She looked confused, bewildered, and sad. "You were having a nightmare." He said gently.

"Oh." She replied with. "I'm sorry." She looked down, hoping to avoid John's concerned face.

"Do you want to talk about it?" John asked. She shook her head.

"If you ever want you, just let me know. You know you never have to be afraid to talk to me." He said with a reassuring smiling. The young redheaded girl looked up and gave a small smile and nodded. "Thank you."

*A WEEK LATER*

"Jaune! Can You help me get the mattress?" A woman's voice could be heard from an attic.

"Coming mom!" A young scraggly blonde said. Jaune darted up the stairs, today was the big day. Dad was finally coming home with the guest. Her mom explained that a girl needed some place to stay for a while, of course Jaune was excited of meeting someone new, someone besides his seven sisters.

A younger child with hazel colored hair that came down to her shoulder with her bangs that rested right above the eyebrow, stopped Jaune. "Jaune whatcha doing?" His five year old sister, Abella, asked.

"I'm helping mom with the mattress?" Did Abella forget what today was?

"Why?" Apparently so…

"Don't you remember? The new girl is coming." Jaune grinned with excitement.

"Dang it!" Abella stomped her feet. "I don't want her here!" She fussed.

"But why not? You haven't even met her?" Jaune frowned.

"She's going to take all of my stuff! She's going to take my room!" Abella threw her hands up in the air.

"I don't think that'll happen. She's getting the guest bedroom." Jaune tried to calm the irate five year old to no avail. "… and I won't let that happen" That made Abella smile.

"Pinky promise?" Abella held out a pinky. He took her pinky with his own.

"Pinky promise." Jaune reaffirmed. Abella grin.

"Well I guess she can stay here." She pouted.

"I'm so glad she has your permission." Jaune chuckled.

"Jaune, hurry up!" His mother called for him from the attic. "Gotta go Abella, sorry!" Jaune ran up to the attic to his tall muscular mother with her amber hair coming down to her shoulders, her brown eyes filled with frustration. "Sorry mom!" Jaune said with a smile.

"I'll head down the stairs first, I just need you to hold onto the other side first." His mother instructed.

"Got it." Jaune nodded. After a few minutes of arduous work, they managed to get the mattress down from the attic. "We'll take it to the guest bedroom." She said as he nodded. After carrying down the hallway and into the bedroom, they gently placed it on the bed frame.

"Thanks Jaune." His mother smiled. "I'll get lunch after I get the room set up."

"Sounds great!" Jaune scampered off. Joan gave a sigh of relief. The room was relatively in good condition that. It was a little barren, but with time it could made into a proper bedroom. The bed was tucked away in the corner, beside it was a small desk, with a dresser beside the desk. The closest was opposite of the bed.

In a few hours, her husband will be back from his hunting mission in Mistral with the newest addition to the Arc family, a seven year old Mistralian girl who was apparently orphaned and shot. What the heck was the world turning to?

Pyrrha hadn't spoken much for the past week. She was worried and concerned with meeting new people. How would they react with her staying with them? Would they accept her with open arms? Stack these on to the constant nightmares, it was starting to take a toll on her.

John offered to talk to her about it, but she resisted every time, she didn't want to unload all of her troubles on to someone else who had others to take care of. She could manage it, she hoped.

They arrived at the small but quaint house in the town of Whitehill, just outside the kingdom of Vale. In the northern mountains in the kingdom. It was small town compared to Mistral, a rather beautiful town compared to the large city of Mistral. The house had a small white picket fence with an oak tree in the front yard. She could see a forest towards the backyard. The house had a porch with a few chairs on the outside. It had multiple windows for the first and second floor. It was rather quaint.

John paid the taxi driver as he climbed out with Pyrrha joining him. He moved to get the bags he brought with him, while Pyrrha carried her duffel bag. He grunted as he hefted two extra bags, filled with clothes for Pyrrha, which were rather heavy, but he didn't mind it, she didn't have any other clothing besides the crimson shirt with shield and spear and her pants. She refused to be parted with it and her weapons, so John wasn't going to argue.

He opened the gate holding the young girl's hand. Pyrrha opened the hatch realizing that John's hands were a little preoccupied. "Thanks." He chuckled. They followed the path to the porch where they ascended. "Pyrrha could you get the doorbell please." She nodded as she reached. She hesitated, her hand shaking. "It's alright." John reassured her. With that Pyrrha pressed the door bell.

 ***Diiiinnnngggg Dooooonnnngggg***

"They're here!" A boy's higher pitch voice could be heard. *Thud thud thud thud* The sounds of running could be heard as the door was opened. A small blonde boy opened the door. Pyrrha looked at him, he had the same kind of hair as his father, same eyes as his father, the same smile as his father. The boy darted from the house and tackled the older man. "Hey there champ!" John said as he put down the bags to return the hug. "Hey Dad!"

Pyrrha watched with a smile, it was heart warming to see, but something nagged at her deep down. "Jaune I have someone I would like you to meet." The boy let go. "Jaune, this Pyrrha Nikos." John gestured to the girl.

Jaune looked at the little girl. She had had long crimson hair done up in a ponytail. Her emeralds eyes watched him. He something behind those eyes, loneliness, sadness, anger. Jaune smiled and walked over and hugged her. "Hiya! I'm Jaune! It's nice to meet you!"

The girl baffled by this boy's outward display of emotion. She winced in pain.

"Oopsy! I'm sorry…." Jaune frowned.

"No that's alright." The girl smiled. "It's nice to meet you Jaune, I'm Pyrrha." The girl gave a small smile. Jaune reached out to take her duffel bag.

"I can take your stuff" He offered.

"Thank you, but I got it." Pyrrha politely declined. Just then, an older woman stepped out. She stepped out of the house. Her brown eyes watching her son trying to be chivalrous knight to this little girl. She knelt down to be eye level with the little Mistralian girl.

"You must Pyrrha. It's nice to meet you." She smiled. "You can call me Joan."

"Thank you. It's nice to meet you as well." The redheaded girl smiled while Joan softly patted her head which made the little Pyrrha smile even more. "Well come on in everyone! We don't want anyone catching a cold!" Joan ushered everyone. Jaune took Pyrrha hand gently and pulled her in.

"Come on! I'll show you where you're room is." He was almost giddy with excitement.

As soon as they were insight Joan helped her husband with the bags. "Thanks" he gave goofy grin.

"Sooo… how is she?" Joan asked with a hush tone.

"To be honest, I don't know. She fine physically, but emotionally, there will be some damage. She has a nightmare every night." John frowned.

"Gods… I can't imagine what the poor girl has been through." She frowned. "Well you did the right thing though." Joan tried to reassure her husband as he went to the kitchen.

"I hope so…" He said as he filled a cup with water. He handed her a small hand written note. "Read that." He said quietly as he sat the large retanglular table. Joan took the note and read it. Her eyes widened slightly.

"Gods…." She muttered to herself. "and you found her wounded, with no memories?" John somberly shook his head.

"Maybe it's for the better." Joan took a seat infront of her husband. He looked up at her with an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Well maybe it is better that she doesn't remember her past, maybe there was something so traumatic… that she blocked it out… and if we were to make her remember, it would be like making her relive it." She frowned at the idea that a poor girl may have gone through so terrible that it would force to forget everything.

"What about her parents? Does she have a right to know who her parents are?" John voice raised slightly.

"She does, but what if they are dead? What if they died in front of her? John, there are too many unknowns." Joan calmly replied.

John sighed. "Who are we to make these kinds of decisions?"

"I don't have an answer for that, but I do know that she needs us now and that is what we should focus on." Joan looked at her husband who was deep in thought.

He then smiled. "Always thinking outside of the box and thinking about what is most important… Hehe, I guess that's why I married you." He chuckled.

"Oh stop it." She chuckled right back.

"So this is your room." Jaune opened the door for Pyrrha. "Sorry it isn't very decorated." Jaune looked down slightly.

"Don't worry, it's perfect." She smiled which made him smile back. To be honest, it was perfect to Pyrrha. It was better than a dark alley, or a hospital bed, she wasn't going to complain. "Thank you so much." She said as she walked over to the bed. It was rather big for her. She sighed as she plobbed up on it. The blonde boy was watching her intently. She won't lie he was definitely on the politer side.

"Anytime." Jaune grinned.

She laid her back down her legs dangling over the side. "Hey Jaune." She started.

"Yeah?"

"I hope you don't mind if I stay here." She sat up looking at him.

"I don't mind, I think you're pretty cool." He smiled

"Cool? But you don't even know me." Pyrrha raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, but mom said that strangers are friends you haven't met yet." He gave a toothy grin.

"I like that saying." She said laying back down, looking at the ceiling.

"Me too." He said as he leaned on the door frame. "You wanna be friends?"

Pyrrha immediately sat up looking at the boy. He was rather blunt and straightforward. He was also funny and goofy. Forget the dumb note. "I would like that." She smiled back.

"Awesome."

"Not awesome!" a voice from behind Jaune

"Abella…." Jaune started to warn the little girl. It didn't go heeded.

"So you're the new girl?" The child looked at Pyrrha who was a little surprised.

"I-I-I am." Pyrrha stuttered from the hostile little girl. "I'm sorry, I don't know you. I'm Pyrrha." She started to get up.

"Just stay away from my stuff." The girl with hazel hair said.

"I'm sorry, don't worry I won't touch anything." Pyrrha raised her hands to an attempt to soothe the little girl.

"Good." She ran off as Pyrrha frowned. Jaune scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah… sorry about that… That was Abella… she'll loosen up." Which made her smile come back ever so slightly.

"Did I do something wrong?" The red asked with slight heavy tone. Jaune walked into her room and sat on her bed beside.

"Nope… she just doesn't like new things." Jaune tried explain.

"I'm sorry." Her voice heavier now.

"It's not your fault" He placed on hand on the sad girl beside him. "Nothing to worry about it." She looked up at him which made him grin, her own smile grew.

"So Pyrrha, tell me about yourself" Jaune was eager to get to know his new friend. The smile instantly faded.

"I'm afraid there isn't much to tell." She confessed as she was eager to avoid the uncomfortable subject.

"What do you mean?" Jaune asked.

"I don't know who I am." She looked down at her feet in shame.

"How…? Why?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I…" She hesitated. "I… don't know…"

"I'm sorry." Jaune apologized, he clearly made the poor girl sad.

"It's fine." She lied, she tried to put on her convincing smile, which worked. Why can't I remember anything? She practically shouted in her mind in pure frustration. It was just a blank slate, white noise, just nothing.

"You like X-Ray and Vav?" Jaune suddenly asked trying to lighten the mood.

"X-Ray and what?" She raised an eyebrow. Jaune grabbed her by the hand. "Come on! Follow me!" He led to her the room right across from her own. Jaune opened the door and srambeled over to a large book case. He pulled a magazine that was in a clear plastic sheath. "X-Ray and Vav! Here." He opened up the sheath, and gently pulled it out. "Be careful, this is my first magazine ever in my collection."

"Collection? You collect these." She took it as he held it out. Jaune nodded.

"Yeppers. I have one hundred and thirty six." Pyrrha giggled.

"What's so funny?" He pouted.

"That is a pretty big collection. When did you start?" She asked.

"A couple of months ago." Her eyes shot back at boy.

"Wow." She said in disbelief.

"I know it's crazy, but I love it." Pyrrha sat on the floor and read through each colorful page. After the first page, she was instantly hooked. She didn't look up for a whole thirty minutes. After she read the comic, she put it back in its protective wrapping. "Sooo?"

She smiled. "Can I read the next one?" She asked kindly.

"Sure! Let me…"

"Dinner is ready!" Joan called from the kitchen.

*THUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUD* Abella rocketed downstairs.

"You hungry?" Jaune asked. Pyrrha nodded shyly. Jaune offered his hand which she took.

"Come on." Jaune led the way with Pyrrha close behind. They entered the kitchen and took a seat at the large table. Jaune sat beside Abella as Pyrrha sat across from Jaune. John sat one end of the table. Joan fixed everyone plate with spaghetti and meatballs.

"I hope you don't mind Pyrrha, I wasn't too sure what you liked." Joan said as she gave the first plate to the little redhead. She smiled to covered up her real feelings. Unfortunately she didn't remember what her favorite foods were or even what certain foods tasted like.

"Anything is fine." Pyrrha said warmly. She politely waited until everyone was served before she dug in herself. She forgot what real food tasted like, but this was sure better then any hospital food she ever had. She dug in like someone who had never eaten a meal in real life.

"This is amazing!" Pyrrha exclaimed as she stuffed another fork full of noodles. John and Joan both chuckled at the redhead's innocence. "Thank you so much."

"Anytime Pyrrha." Joan said.

"Where is Mabel, Catoline, Bridget, Crystal?" Jaune asked as Pyrrha listened intently while she continued to eat. They must have been the other sisters.

"Well they were invited to a friend's slumber party." Joan explained.

"No fair!" Abella raised her hands up. "I wanna have slumber party!"

"Well you kind of think we are having one with Pyrrha." John winked to Pyrrha which made her smile.

"She doesn't count." Abella shot her down, which made her smile fade away.

"Abella, don't be rude." Joan scolded.

"What?! She doesn't! She doesn't belong here!" She crossed her arms in defiance.

"Go to your room!" John stood up, quite angry now.

"But!"

"NOW!" A sharp finger pointed towards the hallway leading to the stairs. Abella huffed and looked at Pyrrha. "This is your fault." She growled as she left.

Pyrrha had a tear coming down her cheek. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to cause any problems. I didn't want to be burden."

"Ignore her." Jaune said "She's just being mean."

"Pyrrha, you're a guest here, I want you to feel welcome." Joan said as walked up to her and hugged her.

"You're a part of the family." John said.

"and a friend." Jaune chirped in happily.

"Family? Friend?" Pyrrha repeated. The idea was foreign to her. She didn't remember what it felt like to be a member of a family, or even a friend. It was too much, something started to crack.

"May I be excused?" Pyrrha asked politely but with a sense of urgency. Joan let go and nodded. Pyrrha headed up the stairs and back to the room that supposed to be hers. She felt a sudden wave exhaustion hit her. She climbed up didn't bother pulling back the covers. She drifted into a deep, deep slumber.

"Is something wrong with her? Is she sick?" Jaune asked.

"Honey… she's been through a lot…. And well… she was alone and hurt when I found her." John tried to explain delicately. "She doesn't remember a whole lot, so she is going to need to some time to get settled in."

"I can help with that." Jaune said with a heart warming childish smile.

"I'm glad Jaune. She needs a friend right now, but I think she may be tired. Let her sleep." Joan suggested.

Pyrrha looked down at her hands which were covered in blood. A poor raven haired boy with a streak of magenta lied at her feet dead, in a pool of his blood. Her sword was on the ground. "Murderer." A voice called out to her.

She turned away to see a little girl behind her. She was extreme familiar. It was a younger version of Pyrrha. "Why?" She asked.

"Why what?" Pyrrha responded.

"Why did you do what?" A male voice spoke up from behind her. She turned around to see the dead boy was now in front of her eyes, his pale magenta eyes hollowly staring back at him. "But I didn't do it."

"But you will." A distinctly familiar voice said. She turned around again to see Jaune in front of her, as the same childish little boy, his blonde hair caked in blood.

"I haven't done anything!"

"You will! Just like before!"

"What do you mean?" Pyrrha collapsed to the ground pleading.

 ***Cock*** A round was being chambered, a gun's receiver being pulled back

 ***Click*** The safety was being turned off

She scrambled to turn around. "You monster." John said as he pointed a gun at her. "No wonder you don't have parents."

"I thought you wanted me…"

"A monster, threatening to destroy my family? No." He pulled the trigger. ***BANG***

The ground up from underneath her. She fell for what for an eternity until she reached the bottom. She landed in a room as the opening closed. Pyrrha looked around to find herself in a mirrored room. The walls, floors, and ceilings were mirrors, the entire room was just a mirror.

One of the walls started to crack. The crack widened and opened up. A large piece of the mirror broke away and fell to the mirror room. On the other side was nothing. Nothing but a room. A familiar room with a bed with crimson blankets and red carpteting. A man in dull grey armor, protected his vital points, but everything else he wore was midnight black kicked down the door. He wore a midnight black balaclava that covered everything on his head except for his eyes.

He had an assault rifle. "Where are you girl?" He said as he reloaded his gun and pointed it at the closet.

"NO!" Pyrrha felt compelled to scream out. As she said a familiar little girl scrambled out from underneath her bed. She grabbed for a familiar weapon, but it was too late. The man already saw her and slapped her away. Pyrrha watched as the little girl was tossed aside.

"Bitch!" The man roared as he kicked the little girl in the multiple times. Another man came up wearing the same gear. "Just end it." He said as he waved his hand. The man aimed his assault rifle, but nothing happened.

Everything froze.

Pyrrha looked around the room to see that room started crack. Pieces started fall away. Until there was nothing but blackness. Pyrrha lost all sense of awareness, it was just a sea of black. She tried to scream, but there was nothing in the void. "Pyrrha! Don't go!" A familiar voice said. She knew it sounded familiar, but she couldn't pin it. "We love you!" A voice cried out right before heart wrenching scream.

Pyrrha darted awoke trembling and sweaty. She looked at the window, the sun was down, the shattered moon over its peak. She looked over at the desk beside her bed. 4:00 AM. She got out of her bed. With ever so care, she opened the door quietly, not to disturb the other sleeping inhabitants. With light footsteps she made her way down to the kitchen.

She turned the faucet on and splashed her face with water. What was all of that? She thought to herself. Those people looked so incredibly familiar to her. That voice that begged her not to go was incredibly familiar. It was driving her mad. Ever since she woke up in that ally, her dreams were not peaceful, they've been of one horrifying vision after another. She almost dreaded having to sleep. She pounded her head in frustration. What did it all mean?

Lights flickered on. "Pyrrha?" A familiar voice called out sleepily. She whipped around to see Jaune rubbing his eyes.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to awake you." She apologized, sincerity from coming from her voice.

"Ah don't worry about it, I'm thirsty he said." He said as he got two cups. He filled one and gave it to Pyrrha then filled one for himself. "What are you doing up anyway?" He asked to took a sip of water.

"I had a nightmare." Pyrrha said.

"About what?" Jaune frowned.

"I don't remember." She lied.

"Have you been having nightmares for awhile now?" Jaune asked, worry etched on his face.

"No." She lied again. She didn't like to lie to people, but she also didn't like worrying for her on her behalf.

Jaune knew she was lying, but she just got here. As much as he wanted to help her, he didn't want to push her away either or to make her feel uncomfortable. "Are you going back to bed?"

Pyrrha shook her head. It she wasn't eager to go back to bed where nightmares and pain only awaited her. "Well let's see if there is anything good on t.v." He led her to the living room, trying to distract the poor girl from whatever her nightmares were.

 **A/N**

 **Hey guys.**

 **I just wanted to thank all of you for your support. It meant a lot. I basically took off yesterday from student teaching and went home for Easter Break not having to deal with stupid stuff back at school lol. I need some time to relax. Well one of the best ways for me to relax is through writing.**

 **I also wanted to thank all of you. All of your support has really touched me and I mean that. Thank you for all of the work. It means the world. As such, I'm still dealing with stuff that is going to slow the upload speed up, but I promise for those who have followed Arkos Book 2, Next upload will be the first chapter Book 3. I don't know when that will be, but hopefully sometime this week or next week.**

 **Thank you for all of your support and outreach it means the world.**

 **That being said if don't worry, my current state of mind will have no affect on the story plot wise.**

 **If you like this story, leave a review, a follow, a pm. If you have feedback, opinion, reactions, predictions, suggestions, or questions leave a review or a pm and I'll get to you afterwards.**

 **Thank you for everything**

 **-Lordxsauron**


	3. Chapter 3: Natural Reflexes

**Shattered Past Chapter 3: Natural Reflexes.**

 **I DO NOT OWN RWBY.**

* * *

Three months had passed in the Arc household. School was about to start a new year. Pyrrha was going to start her own first memorable year at school, however, it felt off to her.

Which didn't help her constant nightmares one bit.

The seven year old girl sighed as she lifted herself up from her bed. Her room was just a spartan when she moved in. The Arcs insisted that she decorate it, to make it feel to homey. She couldn't do it though, something kept nagging in the bag of her mind, it felt wrong to do so. She didn't feel right moving in. She still felt like an outsider to the family.

However, there were some personal affects to the room. Her weapons were hanging over her desk by a mount. Milo resting on two hooks with Akouo resting on it. Her tiara resting above another hook, resting about, but in the middle of Milo and Akouo. She didn't know why, but she felt compelled to hang in that manner.

She woke up at five, she had another two hours before she had to leave for school. To fidgeted at thought, to say she wasn't nervous would be a lie. She had no real human connection besides the Arc household, to meet new people, strangers terrified her. She looked over to her desk beside her bed. Resting upon it was the eighth X-Ray and Vav comic that Jaune let her borrow.

She shook her head to clear her mind and reached for the magazine, maybe some reading will kill some time. She started to read the colorful comic, before she knew she lost all awareness of time.

 ***Knock Knock*** "Pyrrha? Time to get ready." Joan called out. Pyrrha looked up at the clock with surprise. Pyrrha scrambled out of her bed "Coming!" She replied as she quickly changed, grabbed her backpack and headed downstairs to find Jaune who just finished up his breakfast and was starting to grab his on book bag.

"X-Ray and Vav?" Jaune asked to which Pyrrha meekly nodded with a smile.

"I'm sorry." Pyrrha said to Joan who was getting the red head's eggs and bacon on a plate. She smiled at the Mistralian and placed the plate in front of Pyrrha. She quickly scarfed down the food, not wanting to hold anyone else up.

 ***THUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUD*** A stampede could be heard down the stairs. Mabel and Catoline stormed into the kitchen picking up a quick breakfast. "Bye guys." They shouted simultaneously as they ran out the door, their amber pony tails flowing freely from the lighting speed.

Pyrrha supposed they were nice enough. Mabel and Catoline mostly kept to themselves, whether that is because they felt uncomfortable around the redhead or that's just their nature, she couldn't tell. She did have a better rapport with Bridget and Crystal. Bridget came down, her blonde hair free flowing down to her shoulders, the eleven year old's blue eyes locked on to Pyrrha.

"Morning Pyrrha." Bridget smiled.

"Good morning Bridget." She greeted back as she just finished her own breakfast. She let out a massive yawn. Bridget was a nice enough girl. Pyrrha considered to have a nice friendship with her. They would often spend time together with Jaune. Then came Crystal, the sixteen year old.

"Sup guys." She muttered yawning.

"Good morning Crystal." Pyrrha greeted again. Crystal, she was unique. She was kind of a jerk in a protective way. She would often tease Pyrrha and Jaune, but if someone ever picked on them, she was very much willing to jump to their defense and crack some heads. She smart and funny, kindhearted yet can get tiresome real fast.

"Jaune! Pyrrha! Let's get goin! We're goin to be late!" John called from outside.

"Coming!" Jaune shouted back as he grabbed his bag. "Come on Pyrrha, let's get going." She nodded as she grabbed her own bag. She nervous starting 2nd grade, but knowing that Jaune was going to be in the same class helped. Jaune rushed to the car while John placed a hand on her shoulder, she looked up.

"Pyrrha, you remember what we talked about?" She nodded hesitantly.

"Good. Are you nervous?" He asked.

"A little bit…" She said in all honesty.

"That's normal, just remember Jaune will be with you and we aren't far away." Pyrrha looked up and smiled. She walked towards with John beside her. She climbed in, sitting beside Jaune who watched her.

"What was that about?" Jaune asked.

"Nothing important." Pyrrha replied looking at the blonde boy who seemed to be frowning.

"If you say so." Jaune said looking out his window continuing the car ride relative silence. They arrived at Whitehill Elementary School. John stopped the car in front of the car and placed in park. "Now guys, remember to have a good day."

"Thanks Dad." Jaune smiled as unclipped his seat belt.

"You too Mr. Arc." Pyrrha said as she did the same. They got out of the car. Pyrrha walked with Jaune towards the school. Each step felt heavier and heavier until she reached the door. She realized that Jaune had to been talking to her, but she wasn't paying attention to him.

"Earth to Pyrrha? Hello?" He said waving his hand infront of the redhead's emerald eyes. She snapped out of it. "I'm sorry. I wasn't listening."

"We're going to Mr. Morrison's room." Jaune repeated himself, slightly flustered.

"Oh yeah." She remembered vaguely, considering how she had no idea where she was going, she followed Jaune.

They arrived in the room where a few other classmates gathered. They were allowed to pick their own seats, so naturally, Jaune and Pyrrha decided to sit together. "So what do we need to do?" Pyrrha asked. She had no idea what to expect considering that this was her real first year in education.

"Well… we'll sit here for awhile, do some stuff, go eat, play at recess, come back here, and that's it." Jaune said as he fumbled with his bag taking out a folder. Pyrrha shrugged and decided to follow his lead.

After fifteen minutes or so, the class was filled up. "Alright class! My name is Mr. Morrison." The tall, slim teacher, with messy black hair and squarish glasses, said with a slightly high pitch voice. "Let's get started with some introductions." He pointed at one student in the U-Shaped layout of the desks. "Why don't you tell us who you are, maybe a hobby or two?"

Student went by one by one. Jaune stood up. "My name is Jaune Arc. I like to read X-Ray and Vav comics and I like to draw." He said with a grin.

"Thank you Jaune, you may sit. Next." He looked at the redhead beside him with a smile.

"Hello" She bowed her head slightly "I'm Pyrrha Nikos and… well I like to spend time outside and I also like to read X-Ray and Vav comics." She smiled.

Mr. Morrison chuckled at that "Careful now you two, comics can rot the brain." Pyrrha smiled and sit down. She leant over to Jaune. "I didn't know you like to draw…." She whispered.

"I do, I just don't do it often"

"Can you show me some pictures?" She asked in a hushed voice.

"Sure thing."

After everyone was done introducing themselves. They proceeded with their first two classes, math and history. She found that she excelled at math and loved history. Jaune came to discover that he hated history, but loathed math even more.

"Alright guys let's get some lunch." He gestured for his class to line up at the door. Pyrrha and Jaune joined their classmates and headed to the cafeteria following Mr. Morrison. They entered the cafeteria, while Mr. Morrison went back to his room to eat.

Pyrrha and Jaune got their meals. Pizza, peas, applesauce, and milk. They ate in relative comfort keeping to themselves. Jaune was fine with Pyrrha, and Pyrrha didn't feel like dealing with strangers. They chatted about Mr. Morrison and how he seemed to be a pretty fun teacher.

 ***DING* *DING* *DING***

Jaune and Pyrrha got up from their seats and headed out towards recess. When they reached the playground, they noticed tall black haired child beating up a smaller student. "Who is that?" Pyrrha asked, scowling at the bully.

"That's Meathead Willy." Jaune said, eying up the black haired child. "He's a sixth grader that's been held back for years. He picks on anyone."

"That isn't right."

"It really isn't."

"Why don't the teachers do anything about it?" Pyrrha asked.

"He's smart. He doesn't do anything when their adults and other kids are afraid of telling on him." Jaune explained.

"Oh…" Pyrrha thought with a frown. That isn't right. No one should ever be treated that badly. They went about their business on the swings, which Pyrrha absolutely loved.

The bell rang as Jaune and Pyrrha swung to their hearts content. With a sigh they both sighed. "I swear recess is so fast…" grumbled Jaune which earned a rare giggle from Pyrrha. They went back to Mr. Morrison's room, where they finished the day with language arts and science.

 ***RING RING RING*** Everyone started to get up. "So how was your first day of school?" Jaune asked with a smile.

"Fun I guess." Pyrrha smiled as they walked towards the front doors, which they failed to see a certain sixth grader watching them. They found Mr. Arc's car waiting for the two of them. Jaune opened the car door and held it open for Pyrrha who climbed in. Jaune climbed in and slammed the door.

"Hey guys! How was school?" John asked with an upbeat tone.

"Pretty good!" Jaune said.

Pyrrha nodded. "Fun." She agreed.

"Well that's good, I'm glad to hear." Mr. Arc said as he started to drive back to the Arc residence. Pyrrha was then hit by a sudden wave of exhaustion. She didn't realize how tiresome school could be. When they reached the house, all Pyrrha wanted to do was sleep. She realized that lack of sleep was unfortunately catching up with her.

As they entered the house Pyrrha looked at John. "Mr. Arc?"

He looked back at the little redhead. "You can call me John." He chuckled "What is it?"

"Would it be alright if I take a nap?"

John's smile dropped for the quickest of seconds. He realized that the poor girl hadn't been sleeping well, but she would flat out deny it. However, her body betrayed her, she looked exhausted, she slightly sluggish, and she practically was dozing off the moment they entered the house. His best guess was she had been trying to sleep as little possible, the nightmares were a real struggle for her. His smile returned to not betray her trust. "Of course you can."

"Awwwwwww! But Pyrrha we were goin to watch Red vs Blue!" Jaune pouted which caused Pyrrha frown.

"Now Jaune, there will be plenty of time for that later, she's tired." John came to her defense rubbing his son's hair.

Pyrrha climbed the stairs and headed towards the room. She quietly slid in, dropping her book bag at the door and changed into sleepwear. She pulled back the covers and laid down. With a sigh and a heavy heart, she closed her eyes.

When she awoke, it she didn't remember being jolted out of her dreams by a nightmare. For once in a couple of months, she didn't have a nightmare. She smiled at that thought as her heart began to feel somewhat lighter. She looked at the clock to see it was 6:00 AM. She had been asleep for fifteen hours. She felt incredibly well rested.

She got into a daily routine of getting up, going to school, coming back to Jaune's home, hanging out with Jaune and his sisters, eating, and going to sleep. She was starting to feel comfortable, but there was something nagging her in the back of her mind. A feeling she couldn't shake.

* * *

 ***THREE WEEKS LATER***

It was another day at Whitehill elementary school, as the bell rang for Mr. Morrison's class to head to recess.

Their classmates filed out of the cafeteria, Jaune and Pyrrha following behind them, being last. Jaune was talking to Pyrrha when he failed to realize the tall kid that he bumped into. He accidentally bumped into a kid with thick black greasy hair. His lavender eyes coldly staring at him with a sinister smile as he looked around the empty hallway.

"Watch where you are going punk." He said as he pushed Jaune down to the ground. Jaune realized who he was.

"Sorry William." Jaune muttered from the ground scrambling. William gave a sinister grin, showing his braces. He walked over Jaune kicked him away.

Something snapped in Pyrrha seeing this black haired kick beat Jaune. She leapt in between the two. "Stop it." She pleaded. William looked at the stupid redhead girl, rage flaring in his eyes. How dare she get in the way. He shoved Pyrrha down to the ground and started to kick her now.

Jaune got up "Knock it off!" He shouted as he punched William in the gut which did nothing but angered the bully. William was furious and picked up the small blonde boy by the scruff of his shirt.

"You little punk! Someone needs to teach you some respect." He shouted as he started to punch Jaune in the face. ***CRACK* *CRACK* *CRACK*** One, two, three punches, blood pouring of his nose.

Pyrrha finally regained her senses and saw Jaune being held up by the bigger boy who was just waylaying him, she then noticed the blood coming from Jaune. She snapped, she felt something so incredibly foreign, different, yet familiar to her. She couldn't quite explain it.

Without evening thinking, acting on blind rage and anger she extended her arms with every fiber of being, physically and mentally. She felt an odd sensation as she felt something, string like in her mind, her soul. On instinct, she reached for those mental strings and grabbed them. She gave a mighty pull.

Jaune watched as William teeth started glow with black illumination. Jaune looked to see Pyrrha's hands extended being surrounded by a glowing black pulse her hands extended, fists clenched. William dropped Jaune, being compelled to face Pyrrha. He crumbled to his ground, with head jerked in an ungodly manner as his teeth lined up with with Pyrrha's fist.

Jaune watched as Pyrrha yank her clenched fists towards her body. He then realized something came out of William's mouth. Jaune's mouth dropped.

William's teeth were yanked out of mouth, blood spurting out from the sudden trauma. Blood splattering the surrounding area, including Pyrrha. William dropped to the ground, writhing in agony.

Realizing that she was also making the same physical motions, she didn't expect what happened, it happened so incredibly fast for her to register anything. William was now on the ground, blood pouring out of his mouth crying in agony. What happened? Pyrrha thought to herself.

She then saw the blood remains of braces with teeth still attached them.

She then felt something wet against her cheek. She touched her cheek with her fingers to realize it was blood. Not her blood though.

"Pyrrha?" She heard a distant voice. She couldn't look away from the blood, she was mesmerized by it.

"Pyrrha?!" The voice shouted again, it was Jaune shaking her. She blinked.

"What did you do?!" Jaune exclaimed with horror in his face.

"I… I… I…" She stuttered. "didn't do that…."

"You did, you were glowing black…" Jaune whispered in a hushed, and frankly terrified tone.

"I'm… I'm…"

"What's going…." Mr. Morrison was cut short by seeing the school bully crying, his braces and teeth on the floor. "on here…." he managed to say "Gods…. What happened here... Jaune go get the nurse! HURRY!" he said as he knelt beside William

"William, everything will be alright." He tried in console the agonizing bully.

"I…" Pyrrha couldn't take her eyes off of the blood. "didn't mean to do that…"

Mr. Morrison looked over to the distraught redheaded girl with a blank stare. The nurse finally arrived with Jaune. She picked up the sixth grader and rushed him down to the nurse office leaving behind a blood trail.

Mr. Morrison turned around to face Pyrrha and Jaune, pale as a ghost.

"What did you do?" He muttered as if he saw killer.

 **A/N**

 **Hello readers!**

 **Oh myyyyy... stuff happened...**

 **So I wanted to address some concerns first:**

 **This series will be different (as you can tell.) First concern I want to address is that we will not just see the main characters at age 7, we will get to basically get to first year of Beacon by the end of the Book 1 (hopefully.) After the next one or two chapters (probs 2) we will have our first time skip. This series will also have flashbacks**

 **That being said, this story will focus on Pyrrha as well as Jaune (to a certain extent...) This is because the plot is centered around Pyrrha, and well Jaune will have an important plot point as well but that will come a tad bit later. That also being said, the beginning part is more Pyrrha orientated (trying to set the scene with her first.)**

 **This story will obviously not be canon, but there will be some canon elements (I guess we'll have to see xD).**

 **If you liked the chapter leave a review, follow, pm, favorite.**

 **If you got suggestions, opinions, feedback, criticsm (good or bad), opinions, reactions, or predictions, share them! I love to hear from my readers. Don't be afraid to leave a review or a pm.**

 **Thank you!**

 **-Lordxsauron**

 **~P.S. next update will be for Arkos Book 3~**


	4. Chapter 4: Aftermath

**Shattered Memories Chapter 4: Aftermath  
**

 **I DO NOT OWN RWBY**

Pyrrha was fidgeting in her chair, in the office. Jaune was taken first to Principal Bietler's room. She still didn't fully comprehend what happened earlier. All she remembered was William hurt Jaune and then William ended up on the ground with his teeth on the floor. She did however remember the looks she got.

She remembered how Mr. Morrison was white as a ghost, eyes wide. William's was a face of pure agony, Jaune's was the worst. He was horrified of what happened, he was scared of her, and that was like a dagger to the heart. He said that apparently she glowed black and was able to hurt William. She got the droplets of blood on her face washed off, but they still felt like they were there.

Pyrrha sat there looking down at her feet, she lost track of time. She heard a door open up. Mr. Bietler, wearing a button down shirt with business jacket, called him forth. He had a buzzcut and was very clean shaven. Jaune came out of the office looking down. Pyrrha watched him closely.

He looked up at her and tried to smile, but just couldn't. His nose was stuffed up with gauzz to stop it from bleeding He looked down back down at the ground. "Thank you Jaune, you can take a seat here until your father arrives." Mr. Bietler said, he shifted his attention to Pyrrha. "Pyrrha would you please come into my office?"

Pyrrha nodded hesitantly and got up. "Good luck." Jaune whispered, which made her form the smallest of smiles. At least he wished her luck but would she need it? Pyrrha followed Mr. Bietler to his office, he made his way behind his desk and sat. Mr Morrison was leaning on the side of the wall intently watching the redhead. "Pyrrha please take a seat." Without saying a word, she took a seat across the Mr. Bietler's desk. "I called you in so we can hear your side of the story."

"I-I don't know…" She muttered more to herself then.

"At all?" Mr. Morrison said, eyes narrowing.

"I don't though!" Pyrrha exclaimed. "William shoved Jaune and started. I stepped in between the two before he could hurt Jaune. William shoved me to the ground and started to kick me." Her voice filled with tension as she continued. "Jaune got up and hit him, trying to get William away from me. He then picked up Jaune and started to punch him in the face. I don't know what happened after that! I swear!" She pleaded.

"Pyrrha please calm down." Mr. Bietler said trying to calm down the distraught girl.

"We believe you." Mr. Morrison reaffirmed.

"However, we need to get to the bottom of this." Mr. Bietler leaned forward. "Personally, I never had a disciplinary problem with you for your short time in the school. I know we haven't had any issues with Jaune. In fact, Mr. Morrison has nothing but good things to say about the both of you." Pyrrha looked at Mr. Morrison who smiled and nodded. "We also know that William has been a real trouble maker in the school. We believe that the two of acted self-defense." Mr. Bietler continued. "That being said, did any of this help your memory?"

Pyrrha shook her head and looked down at her feet. "No, I'm sorry."

"Well, from what Jaune said, you were glowing black and you seemed to be able to remove William's teeth without touching them." Bietler said quietly. "Does that sound familiar to you?"

She shook her head. She looked up. "Is he going to be alright? William?"

Bietler looked at Morrison questioningly who just nodded his head. "He will be, he's going to get new teeth."

The thought made Pyrrha cringe. She never meant to hurt anyone, but she wanted to stop William from hurting Jaune. "I'm sorry." She whispered "I never meant to hurt him."

"We kno-"

 ***KNOCK KNOCK***

"Mr. Bietler, I have Mr. Arc here." The school secretary said.

"Excellent. Send him in please." Mr Bietler said.

The door opened and John stepped in. "I'm sorry, I came as soon as possible. I hope I'm not late." He looked at Bietler as Pyrrha's heart sank. She didn't want Mr. Arc's opinion of her change. She didn't want him to think that he was some kind of monster.

"Mr. Arc thank you for coming in, you are fine. Please, take a seat." John took his seat next to Pyrrha, patting Pyrrha's head with a reassuring smile. "Now I'm sure you are wondering why you have been called in."

John nodded while Pyrrha braced herself.

"Well there altercation between Jaune and Pyrrha with another student." Bietler said.

"What kind of altercation?" He asked suspiciously, raising an eyebrow. He also saw Pyrrha fidgeting in her chair.

"Well… I'll be blunt with you. We have reason to believe that Pyrrha was able to remove another student's teeth…"

"What?" John muttered disbelievingly. "How? Why?"

"We aren't too sure. Your son saw the altercation. Your son got into a fight with a bully. Pyrrha intervened and was attacked by bully. Jaune fought back and attacked while Pyrrha… well we aren't too sure how she did, but she was glowing black as was the student's braces were glowing… and well they… were pulled out."

"Pyrrha is this true?" He looked at her. She looked back with tearful eyes and nodded. "I don't know what happened. I don't know how I did it. I didn't mean to do it. Honest."

John new Pyrrha had a heart of gold, and even if Jaune was getting hurt, she would try to stop it, but she wouldn't rip out teeth on purpose. An idea popped into his mind. It couldn't have been possible. She was too young.

"Well I have an idea." Mr. Morrison cleared his throat.

"You must by Mr. Morrison, their teacher." John extended his hand to which Mr. Morrison took it and shook it.

"I am, I wish we could have met under bet circumstances." He pulled away. "However, getting back on the topic at hand, it would require for her aura to be unlocked." He frowned.

"I had the same idea. It could be her manifestation of her semblance." John finished the thought. It made sense. A glowing manifestation of Aura around herself as well as an object, but what could her semblance be.

"You're telling me that someone unlocked her Aura this young?" Bietler blinked.

"Unfortunately yes." John said, realizing that whomever Pyrrha lived with before he came along, her life and caretakers were much more different from him. Aura is only unlocked for people training to become hunters. Let alone a manifestation of a semblance this young was incredibly rare, even though it manifested through a stressful situation.

Pyrrha didn't know what Aura was or what a semblance was, but the fact that the adults were frowning and Mr. Arc did not look particularly happy.

"Well… we need to get back to subject." Bietler said trying to regain focus. "Now, that you understand the situation, I unfortunately need to do something about this whole situation." He looked at Pyrrha. "Pyrrha, I can understand that you didn't mean to do something to hurt anyone, and you just wanted to protect Jaune." Bietler looked back at John. "Unfortunately, a student was severly injured. I can't let this go by without a punishment. That being said, and I hate to do this… but Pyrrha will be suspended for the rest of the week. Don't worry about any legal problems, we'll handle it. It's the least we can do to help. As for Jaune, he should take today and tomorrow off, he should get his nose looked at." Bietler said.

"Not a problem." John said as he stood up and shook the hands of Mr. Bietler and Mr. Morrison. "Let's go Pyrrha" He said sympathetically. He pulled open the door of the office and found Jaune holding his nose. Head up in the air trying to stop the bleeding. "Hey there Jaune, how you holding up?" John asked

"I'm doin alright." He said, slightly stuffed up.

"Well I'll be taking the both of you home right now. I'll take a look at your nose when we get home." He said as Jaune got out of his chair walking beside Pyrrha.

"How are you feeling?" Pyrrha asked looking over to the blonde boy holding bloody gauze in his nose.

"Dandy, just got today off." He tried to chuckle which came all muffled. "What about you though?"

"I'm doing alright." She lied as she fidgeted with her fingers. "Jaune?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you mad at me?" She asked.

"Why would I be mad at you?" Jaune asked looking at Pyrrha but still tilting his head upwards.

"Well I saw the way you looked at me when it happened. You looked scared of me." Pyrrha explained. "I didn't mean to do that. It just happened. You have to believe me!"

"Pyrrha, relax, I do. I never got to thank you, he would have kept beating me if you hadn't done whatever you did."

"You aren't mad?"

"Nope. It was kinda cool even, before the… you know…."

"Yeah." She gave him a slight conflicted smile.

John smiled as he continued as he led the two, pretending not to hear the two. Pyrrha truly had a heart of gold and was fiercly protective. That could be seen just by her raw energy she used to channel her semblance. However, he did wonder what her semblance could possibly be? He shook his head at the thought. That isn't what she needed. No, what she needed was a normal and happy life with a loving and caring family.

He also thought about his son. His son jumped to the aid of a friend even though it ended with him getting beaten. That also demonstrates a heart of gold as well as loyalty to friends.

* * *

 ***Back at the Arc House***

"Jaune you have a broken nose. I have to reset it." John said, examining his son who was sitting on a chair in the kitchen with Pyrrha standing beside him. Jaune gulped instinctively, that sounded… painful. Pyrrha took his hand and squeezed it firmly

"Ready?" John asked. Jaune nodded. John grasped Jaune's nose, which caused Pyrrha to squeeze Jaune's hand harder. With a quick fluid motion realigned the nose with a sickening ***POP*** "GAAAHHH!" Jaune yelped gripping Pyrrha's hand like an iron vice.

"Sorry about that Jaune, it had to be done." John said as he went over to the freezer.

Pyrrha realized she was stilling holding his hand, she decided to quickly let go. "How do you feel?" She asked with some concern.

"Like my nose just got popped." He grimaced.

"Well then maybe these will help." He held out two freeze pops, one green, Pyrrha's favorite flavor, and blueberry, Jaune's favorite flavor. He handed it to both of the children. "There ya go! Now go find something to do." He said with a grin.

"Come on Pyrrha! Let's go finish up Red vs Blue!" Jaune said as he scampered up the stairs. Pyrrha nodded thanks to John and chased after to him.

John preceded to make dinner for the rest of his family. As he prepared the meal, he had an opportunity to recollect himself. Of all the things he expected about Pyrrha, semblance manifestation, and aura was not one of them. Then again, when he did find her, she was found with weapons, but not just any weapons, but hunter weapons. The weapons were of high quality as well, but she was connected to them, as if she was attached to them. They had to be linked to her past, but how? With her aura unlocked, and the strength of her semblance, she wasn't born into an ordinary family, or maybe she was incredibly blessed. Who exactly was Pyrrha Nikos? Where did she come from? This questions only fueled more and more, and with the incident today, the questions become ever more complex. He lost track in cooking and deep thought.

"I'm home!" Joan announced as she came through the front.

"Hi honey." John greeted from the kitchen finishing cutting up the last of the onions and dumping them in a pot.

"Oh my, something smells good." Joan said heading to the kitchen.

"Joan, we have something we need to talk about." He voice dropping it's youthfulness and energy. She knew that whenever her husband talked like this, it was something to be taken very seriously.

"Something happened at school with Jaune and Pyrrha." He said lowly.

"Are they alright?!" She asked urgently.

"Yes, yes. Jaune suffered a broken nose, which I had to reset."

"What?! How?" Joan got louder.

John went about explaining what he was told about the bully picking on Jaune, with Pyrrha stepping in with the unfortunate incident. He also described what he was told of how Pyrrha did it. He then went to describe the tense but civil meeting with Mr. Morrison, their teacher, and Mr. Bietler, their principle.

"I think it's redicolous she got suspended for defending Jaune." Joan said.

"I know… I agree, but we don't have a choice. We should be lucky that the school is covering the legal problems."

"Legal problems be damned." Joan growled in frustration.

"I know but still… However, we need to talk about Pyrrha." John said as he turned off the stove.

"What do we need to talk about? Sounds like she used her semblance."

"You know what that means then?"

"Yep, she had her aura unlocked, which usually doesn't happen until someone joins a combat school or if their family unlocks them. Considering how she is too young to be in a combat school, her aura was unlocked by her family maybe?" Joan concluded.

"That's what I'm thinking too."

"Alright so what's the problem then?"

"The fact that someone has unlocked her aura that young. It means that someone wanted her to become a warrior, a huntress." John said.

"What of it?" Joan asked crossing her arms.

John deadpanned at one of the rare times his wife was clueless. "Maybe we should push her to become a huntress." However he failed to realize that his wife expected him come to this conclusion.

"John it doesn't matter what we think, in the end, it isn't our decision. Sure, in her past life, the people taking care of her may have wanted her to become a huntress, but that doesn't matter right now. We need to think about what wants, you know she didn't have a normal life, you've seen the note. This is her second chance, and I think we owe it to try and provide for that chance. If she wants to become a huntress, then that's a different story, but until then, let's give her a normal life." Joan smiled warmly at her husband, who was deep in thought.

John sighed, sometimes his wife was the wisest person he knew, but he would have it no other way. "You're right." He chuckled. "Now, I hope you're hungry." He cleared his throat "DINNER IS READY!" He shouted alerting everyone in the home.

 **A/N**

 **Hello readers!**

 **So, I would like think that this chapter started to put things together (in a way.) We are looking at first time jump in one or two more chapters. I know this chapter was more centered around other characters, but it was more for plot reasons. We will be getting back into the main characters next chapter... Oh I have some stuff planned for next chapter... dun dunn dunnnn!**

 **All this being said, I hope you guys liked the chapter. Please leave me a review or a pm with any ideas, suggestions, feedback, criticism, reactions, opinions. I love to hear from all of my readers no matter what, so don't hesitate.**

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **-Lordxsauron**


	5. Chapter 5: The Beach

**Shattered Past: Chapter 5: The Beach**

 **I DO NOT OWN RWBY OR ANY OTHER ROOSTER TEETH SHOW (RED VS BLUE)**

Pyrrha was sitting with Jaune on his bed. Her back along the wall, she stretched as the next episode of Red vs Blue came up. She felt at peace after today's incident. It was good to finally take a break and just relax.

"I have to admit, I love Freckles." Jaune laughed at Caboose's new friend/pet/30 ton war machine.

"Oh yeah. Although I have to say that Caboose being promoted to commander was pretty funny." Pyrrha giggled.

"DINNER IS READY!" John could be heard from kitchen.

"Awesome!" Jaune said eagerly. It was as if his nose wasn't even broken earlier. "Come on, let's eat. I'm hungry."

"I just got comfortable." Pyrrha sighed as she got off the bed with a yawn. They headed down stairs and found everyone sitting around it. "Took you long enough." Abella said, sticking out her tongue at Jaune.

"We were watching Red vs Blue" Jaune stated as he moved to sit beside Abella. Abella stared at Pyrrha slightly timid.

"Don't hurt me." She whispered. Mabel and Catoline watched from their chairs beside each other opposite of Abella. Bridget looked irritated and Crystal just shook her head in exhaustion.

"Abella…" Crystal muttered tiredly. "Don't bring it up…"

"B-b-but she could hurt us." Abella stammered.

"I won't hurt you Abella." Pyrrha said before anyone else could say anything. "I promise, I will never do anything to hurt any of you."

Abella looked like she was going to say something. "I believe her." Bridget said, coming to her defense.

"Besides, she's been nothing but nice to you since she's been here. You've been the one treating her like crap." Crystal muttered.

"Us too." Mabel and Catoline said simultaneously. Abella deflated now. John listened to the whole conversation but decided not intervene. Let the family settle, it would be more useful for her "siblings" to get comfortable with Pyrrha.

John and Jaune went about placing bowls of lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, tortillas, salsa, and the meet. The family went about making tacos chatting while doing so. As Pyrrha munched on a taco, a dark thought crept into her mind. Maybe Abella was right. Maybe Pyrrha would hurt them unintentionally. She tried to bury the thought as best she could. Why would she hurt them? How could she hurt them? They took care of her, they brought her in their home, they considered her family, they did everything in their power to make her feel welcome. However one thought crept up. 'You aren't a member of the family. You never will be.'

'Stop it.' She thought.

'They feel bad for you.' The voice said.

'No they don't. They care about me.'

'Wait until discover what kind of person you truly are.'

'Stop it. I'm Pyrrha Nikos.'

'You have blood on your hands.'

'STOP IT! GO AWAY!' She screamed mentally about ready to break down. She continued to munch on her taco waiting for the voice to say something also to hide her inner turmoil. It didn't, she smiled, but she didn't know where the voice came from, which scared her. Thankfully no one noticed, or she hoped that no one did notice.

Joan and John watched silently as Pyrrha shuttered as her brows furrowed silently as if she was deep in thought. They looked at each other eyebrows raised. However, her mood lightened up as she smiled, at what, they could only guess.

After an hour of listening Crystal explain her breakup with some local meathead and how Bridget discussing how the local soccer team was going to Vale for a tournament. "Alright guys, I'm heading back upstairs, I have to finish a history paper." Crystal said as she stretched her hands. "Good meal as always Dad."

"Dang straight! I make the best tacos in the entire kingdom!" He said with pride.

"Well I guess I finish watching Red vs Blue. Pyrrha you wanna come with?" Jaune asked as he deposited his plate in the sink.

"I was thinking about going to bed." She said as she looked at the clock. It had been a rather event day.  
"Awwww alright…." Jaune said with a frown.

"We could watch it tomorrow." Pyrrha suggested.

"Sure!" Jaune perked right back up. Pyrrha deposited the plate in the sink. "Thank you Mr. Arc." The redhead said, to which he smiled warmly. He gave up trying to correct her, she was polite by nature.

"Anytime Pyrrha." He responded as he watched the little redhead up go up the stairs.

She climbed up the stairs and headed back to her room. As she closed her room, she felt something odd in the back of her mind. She looked around to see if anything was amiss. Nothing. She walked into her room, the feeling quickly faded away as it came, she did notice that her eyes were oddly attracted to Milo and Akouo hanging up on wall.

Something felt off, she realized, but she decided to not think about it. Her main concern was to get some sleep. She got into her nighttime clothing and went to her bed. She pulled back the covers and climbed in. Once she was situated, she was pulled up the covers and slowly drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Pyrrha found herself on a beach that stretched as far as the eye could see. The water calmly coming up and gently receding back. The sun was setting for the evening, but it was being reflected off the water. It was a sight to behold, serenity at its finest. "Look out there." A familiar voice said.

Pyrrha looked out there to the ocean. Now she focused on it, she realized how truly beautiful it was. "I wish I could spend all of my time here." Pyrrha said taking in the sight.

"I as well." The voice said sadly. Pyrrha looked around to see no one was there.

"Where are you?" Pyrrha said.

"I'm here." It said quietly.

"But where?" Pyrrha asked again.

"Here and there." It said again.

"Who are you?" The redhead asked.

"No one important." It said sadly.

"Why are you sad?"

"It doesn't matter."

Pyrrha huffed at the response. Whoever this was, she wanted them to be happy. "You can trust me, I won't tell anyone."

"I'm not doubting you, but I can't" The voice said quietly sadder. "Pyrrha, I have to tell you something." It said, trying to calm itself.

"What is it?" She asked looking around. "Can you show yourself."

"I can't. I hope you can understand." It said sadly.

"Fine, what do you want to tell me?"

"Pyrrha Nikos" The voice calmed down and started warmly. "You're special. Whatever you do, whatever you set your mind to, you accomplish all of your goals. Not a lot of people can do that."

"Thank you." She said to the voice.

"Your parents would be proud of you."

"WAIT!" Pyrrha straightened up, sounding hopeful. "You know my parents?"

"I…." The voice strained, more distant.

"I….." The voice sounding more distant.

"I…." The voice was barely audible.

The earth began to shake. The waves increased in size. The sun was now down, with a full shattered moon in the air, blood red. The water slowly drew back as far as the eye could see. The water came back, red, dark red. Blood.

"Where ya going girly?" A dark voice said. She knew she didn't want to answer. She decided to run, run away from the blood, as fast and as far as possible. "You can't get away that easy." The voice chuckled. The blood red water was coming in faster.

No. No. No. NO. The water coming in to fast.

"Turn around." The familiar voice said. "Walk towards the water." She decided to trust the voice. Oddly enough, she felt she could trust it. "Trust yourself and you can overcome anything." The voice said stoically. She nodded in determination. She decided to follow the voice. She stopped running, with a sigh, she turned around. This was her time to face her fears head on. With determination, she walked towards the water. The calmed and settled as she approached it, she then noticed it was losing its red color. She looked up to the moon to realize that there was no moon. The sun was out completely. The earth had settled, everything was back to its serene self.

"Thank you." She said hoping the voice heard her.

"You're welcome." It said with upbeat tone.

"I love it here." She said with a smile as she sat on the beach feeling the warm sand in her hand. She placed her feet in the water.

"You were always fond of beaches." The voice said.

"I can't see why not." She hummed to herself. "Can I stay here?" She asked.

"Until you wake up."

"Will I ever get to talk to you again?"

"I'll be around." The voice said. "Pyrrha?"

"Yes?" She said perfectly content with talking to a disembodied voice.

"Please don't follow in the footsteps of your parents. Please don't become a huntress. You have a chance at a normal life, with a normal family. A family that cares about you. Live a normal and happy life."

"I will." She said. As she thought to herself, more questions arose. How did this voice know her parents? Who was the voice? What was her life like before the Arcs? Why shouldn't she be a huntress? She always imagined being a huntress to help her friends and family, she felt it was the only thing to do. Now this voice asked her not to do it. Should she keep a promise to a figment of her imagination? All of these questions were going to fluster her. However, she realized one thing was clear. If she wanted to find answers to these questions, she would have to go down that the Arcs may not fully understand or accept.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Hey guys! I know this is slightly shorter chapter, but it needed to be seperated from the next one. I can say with confidence that after the next chapter, we will be having our first time skip.**

 **As for the next story to be updated... all I can say is idk xD**

 **If you guys enjoyed the chapters, please feel free to leave a review or a pm. Like I always say, I love to hear from my readers. It means the world to hear what you guys think. So let me know what you think. I am always open to feedback, suggestions, questions, feedback, reactions, predictions, and all of that other stuff. Even if you didn't like it, I still want to hear why, I'm always trying to improve. I hoped you enjoyed**

 **Thank you!**

 **-Lordxsauron**


	6. Chapter 6: One Step Forward

**Shattered Memories: Chapter 6: One Step Forward**

 **I DO NOT OWN RWBY OR ANY OTHER RT SERIES**

'Don't be a hunter.'

'Become a hunter.'

'Be happy. Live a normal life.'

'Protect people. Become a legend.'

'Live a long and prosperous life.'

'Die in a short and meaningless life.'

'It is only short and meaningless unless you fight for something.'

The sun rose, with brilliant rays of sunshine that peered through Pyrrha's window. She growled and rolled over to the other side trying to ignore the blinding sun. ***SLAM* *SLAM***

Well Pyrrha realized that she should get up. There was no point in trying to get some more sleep. She had a nice dream after all, sitting on a warm beach, in nice clean and cool water. When she started to come back into consciousness, there was a debate in her mind that was not entirely her own. It was as if there were two armies fighting a bloody war for dominance of Pyrrha's goals and convictions. She tried to bury it deep in her mind.

She looked at the clock, it was 8:00 A.M. She knew that all of the Arcs except for Jaune, who took the day off due to his nose, and Joan were in the house. She cracked the door open just enough for her slide through.

She headed downstairs to find Joan finishing up cleaning up from breakfast, a rather extensive affair for seven Arcs. Joan let a sigh, as she sat down and ate her own breakfast. "Good morning Pyrrha. Can I get you something?" She asked with an exhausted smile.

"I'll get a bowl of cereal." Pyrrha said as she reached for a bowl and the box of Pumpkin Pete's. She poured a modest bowl of cereal and went to pour the milk in. She sat across from Joan started to munch on her cereal. After a few bowls, she put her spoon down.

"Mrs. Arc?" Pyrrha asked shyly.

"Mmmm?" She hummed as she looked up from the magazine she reading, putting a fork full of waffles down.

"Well…. I was just wondering….. When did you know you wanted to become a huntress?" She fidgeted as she felt Joan's eyes on her. She didn't really know what made her ask it, but she didn't ignore the gut feeling that told her to ask.

"Huh…." She rubbed her chin in thought. "I would have to say it was pretty young. I would have to say about your age, maybe even younger."

"What made you do it?" She sounded almost hopeful yet remorseful, her face displaying both emotions.

"Well… I always wanted to help people, and I figured the best way of helping people is by becoming a huntress. I also vowed that I would be able to protect my family from all things."

"Oh." Pyrrha voice sounded heavy.

"Pyrrha what's on your mind?" Joan asked gently.

"Oh it's nothing." The redhead said not making eye contact.

"I know that isn't true. Pyrrha, what's wrong?" Joan said, wishing that the redhead would open up just for once.

"Well…" She fidgeted even more, not being able to hold still. "I've been having dreams." She said sadly.

Tone shift did not go unnoticed. "What kind of dreams?" Joan asked.

"…" A moment of silence went by, the redhead Mistralian girl frowned. "Bad ones…" she said quietly, barely audible. Now Joan was no psychologist, but she could that Pyrrha had been through some stuff, even if she didn't remember it. Not to mention having no memory, getting shot, being adopted, and accidently pulling out someone's teeth using a semblance. Having nightmares would only be normal for a girl that has been through so much. It caused Joan's heart to bleed, Pyrrha such a polite and kind child and yet she's been through a lot, even if she doesn't show it that much. Luckily for Joan, Pyrrha was opening up about this. It was a step in the right direction.

"Alright, so what happens in these dreams?" Joan asked sympathetically. Pyrrha didn't say anything if anything, she looked afraid, her eyes moving around, looking everywhere but Joan. She finally spoke.

"I don't want you to think that I'm a monster." Pyrrha said quietly as a tear came down her cheek, then another, and another, before Joan knew it, she was silently weeping. Joan stood up, motherly instincts kicking in. She eased her way over to Pyrrha, making sure not to startle her. She knelt down so she was eye level with the scared little redhead.

"Pyrrha…" Joan said gently. She didn't look. "Pyrrha…. Hey…. look at me…." Pyrrha looked at Joan, eyes red from tears. Joan took one of her small hands and clasped inbetween her own hands, and gave a squeeze. "I won't think you are some kind of monster. Nothing you can say or do will change that. You are one of the nicest people I have met. You can tell me anything." She said gently giving another squeeze for good measure. "Does that help to know?" She asked with a warm smile. The redhead look at her for a moment and nodded slowly.

"The dreams are bad…" She started. "There's always a lot of blood." Joan listened intently and waited for the little girl to compose herself. "Sometimes, I'm in a house where the bad men are trying to get me. Sometimes, they find me and shoot me. Sometimes they find others…" She trailed off and looked away.

"Who are the others?" Joan asked carefully.

"Sometimes their just people that seem familiar but I don't remember who they are. Sometimes… it's all of you." She didn't look at Joan. "There is always a lot of blood, screaming…. You all blame me…." She started to sob. "You all say that I am the reason why all of you died. You say that I'm a monster, that you didn't wish you guys founds me." Her tears were now free flowing, nothing stopping them. She felt warm arms wrap around her.

"Pyrrha…." Joan said gently. "shhhh….. it's alright….. let it all out…" She wrapped her arms around the distraught little girl. To have this kind of burden on a child was unimaginable and truly heartbreaking. She is surprised that Pyrrha was able to hold it in. She stroked her hair that was in a ponytail. "Nothing bad is going to happen… to us… to you..." She continued to embrace the redhead giving her a good squeeze for good effort. "Finding you has been one of the happiest moments for our family. None of us think you are a monster…. You are the nicest person I've ever met."

"Really?" The redhead looked up at Joan.

Joan chuckled. "Yep, more polite then my own children, heck, even my own husband." That caused Pyrrha to smile. "Someone so polite can't be such a scary monster." That made her smile even more. "There's that smile. Monsters don't smile, now do they?" Joan asked warmly. The redhead shook her head.

"I just… I just want to protect people…. I want to protect all of you…. I want to make you all proud of me….." She whispered "…. I want to make my parents proud."

"Pyrrha, you don't have too…" Joan started. "I'm sure your parents would be proud of…"

"You don't know that. They wanted me to become a huntress." She said with a slightly aggravated voice. How could she not see that? It was like what Mr. Arc said, if her Aura was unlocked, it had to be done by her own parents, she was too young for combat school. Her parents wanted her to become a huntress. Then again… there was that note that told her live a normal life. Wasn't a normal life included with being a huntress though?

"I'm sure they wanted you to be happy…" Joan tried to calm the child.

"You can't say that! You didn't know them!" Pyrrha's voice increased in loudness, brow furrowed.

"Pyrrha you realize the life of a huntress is not easy, right?" Joan tried to explain. "It takes years of schooling, years of dedication, training. Some don't even make it after that… It isn't an easy path to go down." Joan said quietly "A lot people die going down that path." Her voice soaked with sadness that could only be known by losing someone dear to them. "Knowing that, do you still want to become a huntress?"

With fiery determination, Pyrrha nodded. "Yes." She said resolutely. Joan was going to argue with redhead, if she felt she had to do become a huntress, she would support her one hundred percent. The question was with John though. She banished this thought, she would cross that bridge when she need too. No point in worrying about it now.

"Alright, if you are sure. But that a long way off, so let's not worry about it, yeah?" Pyrrha nodded, smiled and nodded. "Great, it looks that your cereal got all soggy." Joan faked a smile. "Why don't I make you a real breakfast?"

Pyrrha couldn't pass up a descent regular breakfast, anything was better than soggy cereal. It was an occasion to celebrate after all, Pyrrha thought to herself. One thought popped however, should she tell everyone else? Should she tell Mr. Arc? Should she tell Jaune?

"Mrs. Arc?" Pyrrha asked watching Joan crack open some eggs on a frying pan.

"Mmmmm?" She hummed back in response.

"Should I tell the others?" Pyrrha asked, voice weighed down.

"If you don't want to, you don't have too."

"I don't know…." Pyrrha said looking intently at the table as if it would give her an answer.

"Well then how about you wait on it until you do know? You know you can talk to me anything."

"Thank you." Pyrrha said with a certain light heartedness of a child returning.

"Anytime." Joan said affectionately as she went back to the scrambled eggs that required her attention. ***THUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUD*** Steps racing down the staircase could be heard as Jaune entered the kitchen.

"Well good morning sleepyhead." Joan said with a grin which caused Pyrrha to giggle.

"I was tired." Jaune tried to justify himself.

"We can tell…" Pyrrha said with hint of laughter in her voice.

"What's so funny?" Jaune yawned. Pyrrha pointed at his hair. He patted his hair to realize that he had a really bad case of bed hair. "Huh." He muttered himself.

"You should really comb your hair, it wouldn't look like you a cow linked you." Joan chuckled.

"Mom. Stop." He waved her off dismissively.

"I mean, really Jaune, your hair looks like cow drooling all over your hair. Isn't that right Pyrrha?" Pyrrha nodded with a grin on her face.

"MOM!" Jaune protested.

"I can't help it's true…. But fine… look like a slob." She joked as she served Jaune and Pyrrha a hearty pile of scrambled eggs, which the two happily dug into. After finishing plate, Jaune let out my belch.

"Jaune! Where are your manners?" Joan scolded.

"Not here." Pyrrha suggested.

"That's just a way of saying it was a good." Jaune said with hint of pride.

"Yeah…. I could tell…" Joan mumbled. "Why don't you guys go outside? It's a beautiful day out."

"Awww but it's cold out Mom!"

"So dress warmly." She was about ready to face palmed.

"Fine." Jaune said as he went to his room and got blue jacket and quickly zipped it up, while Pyrrha got on a similar jacket, only in red. "We'll be back!" Jaune said he opened the door to which Pyrrha closed it behind her.

"Come on, let's go explore." Jaune said wondering towards the forest that lied beyond the quaint little backyard.

"We aren't supposed to go back there." Pyrrha said hesitantly.

"Oh come on, we won't go too far." Jaune continued to walk towards the forest.

"Jaune, I don't think we should go in there…" Pyrrha said.

"It'll be fine." Jaune brushed her concern off. "I promise."

"If you say so." Pyrrha sighed, she followed Jaune as he pushed the brush away, as they got past the intial thicket of brushes, they got deeper and deeper into the forest.

"I love coming here."

"How often do you come here?"

"As often as I can without my parents knowing."

"I don't blame you…" Pyrrha looking at around at the stunning forest, watching the autumn leaves gently float down to the ground. As they continued through the forest, they came across a small stream, with a leap, they were able to cross it without getting wet.

"Jaune, have you ever thought about becoming a hunter?" Pyrrha asked.

"Meh, I don't know. I hear all the stories that dad tells me about how we used to be family of warriors, heroes, and soldiers. I would like to, but I don't think my dad wants me to become a hunter." Jaune said as he climbed up on a log "Apparently we've always have been hunters. In fact, my great grandfather Johanis Arc was a general in the Great War." He continued as he made his way across the log, hands extended out to maintain balance. Pyrrha climbed up on the log followed in his footsteps. She realized he was pretty bad keeping balance. This was evident when Jaune lost his balance and fell off the log with a loud ***THUD*** in a pile of leaves in a small dried up riverbed.

"Jaune! Are you alright?!" Pyrrha quickly crossed the log maintaining perfect balance and jumped down with a perfect landing.

"Besides poor balancing? Yep." Jaune laughed as Pyrrha offered a hand. He took, but with all of his might, he yanked the extended hand. Pyrrha was caught off guard and was pulled into the giant leaf pile. "Jaune!" Pyrrha growled as she found herself buried in leaves.

"If I go, you go." He said with mischievous grin as he quickly got out of the pile and put some space between himself and a vengeful pair of green eyes looking right at him through a few leaves. "Jaune, you shouldn't have done that." She said with an almost innocent musical tone in her voice. Jaune knew deep down that he should start running, and fast.

"Uhhhh… I should start going…" He said as Pyrrha rose out of the pile of leaves. He started to back up as Pyrrha removed leaves from her ponytail and bangs in her hair. "You should." She hummed with a smile. Jauned decided to heed his gut and her confirmation and bolted down the dried up river bed.

Pyrrha picked herself up with a smile, how she enjoyed chase. She dusted off her coat, making sure there were no leaves on it, then gave her pants a quick brush up. Satisfied, she decided to give Jaune another minute. Pyrrha knew she would be able to catch up to the blonde, he wasn't that particularly fast.

Jaune ran through the dried up river bed, dodging tree routes and the occasional border. He looked behind on several occasions to see if a certain redhead was chasing him. He realized that she was nowhere to be found. Odd. He then noticed red out of the corner of his eye. He looked to his left to find a familiar redhead running beside, above the riverbed. She was going to cut him off, if it wasn't for the wall that she was about to collide into.

Pyrrha wasn't paying attention and ran into a rather impressive wall. She slammed in with a loud *Thud* Pyrrha crashed into wall and fell to the ground. Without a second thought, Jaune climbed up the bank of the river, climbing over roots and rocks to make it over the top. He darted up and quickly scrambeled over to Pyrrha.

"Pyrrha?" Worry clearly evident in his voice. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah…" She said dazed, looking up at the sky.

"Here let me help you up." He offered his hand, which Pyrrha graciously accepted.

"I guess you win this time."

"Probably the only time."

"We should probably head back, no one should be near the wall." Pyrrha said with a slight concern. Her eyes shifted towards a cauldron that arced over the dried up river bed. The wall had what should have been bars over the archway, but Pyrrha realized that they were broken off. "Jaune… look…" She pointed at the cauldron.

Jaune turned around to look at the hole in the wall, large enough for Grimm to get through. "Oh no….." Jaune said eyes wide. Pyrrha yanked his arm.

"Jaune we have to tell someone." ***GRRRRRR***

Pyrrha eyes shot towards the cauldron as two beowolves lumbered through, growling and bearing their teeth right at them. "Jaune we have to go now!" She yanked his arm, but he didn't budge. He stood still, eyes looked on the beowolves, his face losing all color. "Jaune!" She started to drag him. However, she was too slow as one of the beowolves leapt up in front of them. They slowly backpedaled away from the Grimm.

"You were right Pyrrha, we shouldn't be out here." Jaune whispered. The Beowulf advanced as the other one watched from the river bed. Jaune, being closest to the bank, didn't see the clawed paw reach for his leg.

Jaune screamed, which only excited the Grimm. Jaune was dragged from the bank into the riverbed. The Beowulf raising its claws about ready to deliver a death blow. Jaune tensed up and closed his eyes waiting for the claw to come down. He didn't think it would end like this.

"NOOO!" Pyrrha screamed from the top of her lungs chasing after the Beowulf. She felt a familiar tingle deep within her heart and fingers. The familiar invisible strings that she reached out with her mind. Her hand outstretched, she realized her fingers, no her arms were pulsating in black energy. She pulled back with her arms. Rattling could be heard off in the distance.

The Beowulf let out an intense roar of pain, which caused the other wolf to leap down in the river, red hungry eyes tracing the redhead. The Grimm that was over Jaune collapsed, having five large metal bars impaling it through the back and through the chest, letting out a death whimper.

The other seeing its fellow Grimm die, let out a ferocious war cry and charged the redhead.

 ***BANG* *BANG* BANG* *BANG***

The Beowulf collapsed as it crashed into the ground, just mere inches away from the redhead. She looked over to see Mr. Arc aiming a high impact rifle. He did not look happy in the least bit.

"Are you two alright?" He fumed as he rushed over to the two traumatized children. Pyrrha hung her head. "Yes Mr. Arc….." She muttered. Jaune simply nodded his head.

"What the hell were you two doing out here?!" He said angrily. "You know you two shouldn't be out here, especially so close to the wall."

"Sorry Mr. Arc." Pyrrha said.

"Sorry wouldn't have fixed anything if I wasn't here. You two could have ended up like Thomas." John bitterly. He took out his scroll and dialed a number.

"Yeah. I've found them." He looked at them with a mixture of anger, sadness, and disappointment.

"…..?"

"Yeah, they're fine."

"….?"

"There's a hole in the culvert. I found two Beowolves."

"…?"

"Yes they are fine. I'm sure."

"…"

"Thanks, could you also send a maintenance team here?" He said as he looked at the culvert whose grate was opened.

"…"

"Thank you. See you in a bit."

John closed the scroll and look at the two terrified children who were huddled together. He sat down beside them, keeping his rifle and eyes on the culvert. "I'm sorry dad." Jaune looking at the distance. Several moments went by.

"We'll talk about it once you get home." He said eyeing up the pieces of the grate laying on the ground, still covered in the Beowulf's blood.

 **A/N**

 **Hello Readers!**

 **Soooo I know I said we were looking to have our first time leap next chapter... but that will not be the case. After next chapter, we will have our first time leap. This is for the sake of character development and plot structure.**

 **Sorry!**

 **Anywho... if you liked the chapter, leave a review, or if you thought it was meh, or bad. I love to hear from all of you. If you have suggestions, predictions, ideas, opinions, reactions, questions, or concerns, or any kind of feedback leave a pm or a review, and I will try to get back to you!**

 **Thank you for all of your support! It means a lot!**

 **Lordxsauron**


	7. Chapter 7: Two Steps Back

**Shattered Memories Chapter 7- Two Steps Back**

 **I DO NOT OWN RWBY.**

 **Important A/N Below**

* * *

Jaune and Pyrrha followed Joan who had her rifle at the ready. "You two know better than to be wandering out here." She scolded as she kept looking around for any signs of Grimm. "You could have died just like Thomas…"

Pyrrha looked over to Jaune who hung his head down in complete shame, tears coming down his cheek. Who was this Thomas? She decided it probably wise to ask right now. She stayed quiet as they made their way back to the house. "I'm so incredibly sorry…" Jaune said remorsefully, tears coming down his cheek as they reached the backdoor. Joan stopped and turned around to face them, getting down one knee, being eye level.

"Hey now..." She pulled of them into a hug. "You don't have to be sorry… We just can't stand the thought of losing you." Jaune sobbed while Pyrrha was touched. She knew that the Arcs cared about her, but being this concerned over her well being was a new level for the redhead to understand. She couldn't understand how they could be this caring to her, an outsider.

* * *

John kept lookout while the maintenance crew reinforced the culvert with a new grate. He kept his rifle at the ready, keeping an eye out for any Grimm, but he was rather preoccupied with had happened earlier.

He barely made it out in time. He was barely out in time to save his kids. He was able to stop the one that was charging at his Pyrrha. Then it clicked, there was another Grimm, that he was not able to kill. A Grimm that was going to kill his son. He was too slow, he should be dead. If it wasn't for Pyrrha, he would be.

He was too slow. He wasn't fully aware. He was too careless. Today could have been a repeat incident of what happened with Thomas Arc, his twin brother, who was cruelly snatched away by an Ursa. The memories came back fresh as daylight.

John kept running, running as fast as he could. Rifle at the ready.

 ***Cling Clang CLINK*** A blood curdling scream could be heard. No. John thought to himself as he redoubled his speed.

A Beowulf leapt out in front of him, which he mercilessly shot down with his automatic rifle until it was bloody confetti. Still running, he replaced the magazine with a fresh clip. Oh gods no. Another Beowulf charged after him chasing him. He quickly stopped and snapped around aiming his rifle at the Grimm's head and opened fire, dropping the Grimm.

He continued to the sound of pain and agony. He reached the area where it was coming from. What he saw, he could not understand. A man, similar to him in almost every single way, was getting torn apart by an Ursa. No. No. No. **NO!** He screamed mentally. Thomas Arc laid on the ground, a pool of blood surrounding him, his sword, Crocea Mors, far from his reach. John aimed his rifle at the Ursa and opened fire, letting our a ferocious war cry. Filling ever bullet with hate, anger, and rage. The Ursa bellowed as the rounds from the assault rifle pierce the Grimm. After emptying an entire clip the Ursa fell over. John reloaded his gun and pointed the rifle at the Grimm's head and opened fire, smashing away at what remained of the Ursa's head. Knowing that the Grimm was dead, he rushed over to his twin brother.

Thomas was coughing up blood, as blood seeped through his armour. "Well….." He spat out blood. "I don't think I'm going to make it out this time…." He gave a pained chuckle. John applied pressure to the wound and redirected his Aura into his twin, hoping it would heal his wounds.

"Shut up." John said. "You going to be fine. You've went through worse."

"John."

"No. Stop talking. Save your energy." John with strain as he pulsed a faint white light.

"John… don't…" Thomas grunted.

"You're going to be fine." John gave him an exasperated smile.

"Tell….." Thomas coughed. "them…. I'm sorry… and… that I love…. them… Stay... strong..." Thomas stopped breathing as his eyes closed.

"No!" John shook his twin brother. "Thomas! Please!" He shook him even more. "You aren't dead you aren't dead you aren't dead." Thomas didn't move. " **NOOOOOOOOOOOO!** " John screamed out in anger, losing his other half. His brother, his twin, his best friend. He sat there sobbing. It should have been a simple mission, clear out some Grimm. What went wrong? "Gods damn it! Why couldn't it have been me?! _TAKE ME_!"

He sat there cradling Thomas, cursing the world that he would never let this happen to anyone that he cared about.

* * *

Jaune and Pyrrha head upstairs in silence. Jaune reached his room's door. "Hey… I'm sorry, but I need to take a nap. I'm not feeling too good." Jaune muttered looking down at his feet. Pyrrha knew he was lying, he was still bothered by what happened today, but she nodded. "Jaune." He looked at her.

"Are you alright?" Pyrrha asked. He looked terrible, he had the most pained frowned on his face, but he tried to give her a smile. "Yeah I'm fine." She decided to leave at that. She headed into her own room, deciding it was better to find something to do.

She entered room thinking of what she could do. She could read the next X-Ray and Vav comic that Jaune let her borrow. She could get started on her school make up work, maybe even start reading another book. She hopped on her bed realizing something. Those Beowolves could have eaten both of them, yet she was able to kill one of them.

Kill Grimm. She even managed to protect a dear friend. Maybe she was meant to become a huntress? She knew that it came to someone hurting someone she care about, she reacted instinctively, without a second thought. Was that a good thing? Is that the right thing to do? She didn't like the idea of killing, but Grimm weren't people, Grimm only wanted to hurt people, people who Pyrrha cared about. She scowled at that thought of creatures hurting the people she wants to protect.

She felt like she was meant to protect people, to protect the people she cared for. The note was wrong, she was meant to become a huntress, even if it meant not having a second chance at a normal life. A not wasn't meant to control her life, she wanted to do this now by any cost.

* * *

John entered the house. He hung up his rifle, just underneath the unmistakable sword of Crocea Mors, his brother's sword. He took a step back looking up at the sword, relieving the painful fourty-five year of living together. He failed to realize that his wife was behind. "John." She said worriedly. "What's wrong?" He couldn't respond.

"John? Please talk to me." Joan pleaded, her blue eyes begging at husband.

"I… I…. I…." He stammered shaking his head. Joan knew that he was reliving his memories of Thomas. Thomas was an important member of the family. He basically Jaune's second father, a dear friend of Joan, but she couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose someone so close, so identical to you. He managed to bury the pain, to hide his anger, and frustration. However, at times, it would surface. Joan tried to get him to open up about, to share the pain with her, but that caused him to shut down even more. Three years after the death of his twin, John still kept quiet about it. It must have been crushing.

"I…. was too slow Joan….." John whispered.

"But you killed one of the Grimm." Joan tried to soothe the tortured man beside her. "You saved them."

"There was another one, right above Jaune. He would have died if Pyrrha wasn't there." John said looking at the sword.

"You mean she killed a Beowulf?"

He nodded. "Using metal, I think her semblance had something to do with it." He hung his down. "If she wasn't there with him, we would have lost him. I was too slow. I was unprepared, I was irresponsible. I let Jaune down just like I let Thomas." He walked up to the sword hanging above the fire place. Placing a hand on the sheath of the sword.

"John… it wasn't your fault. You did the best you could do….. for both of them."

"Don't say that." He whispered still looking it

"John… you can't blame yourself."

"STOP IT!" He turned around, pure rage in his eyes. "You don't understand what it is like to lose your brother. You don't know what it's like to lose you twin. You don't understand what it's like to let your family down. I was meant to be hunter, he wasn't meant to be hunter." Hist voice settling down into a cold and distant, but resolute tone. "No one will put in the same situation I was or he was. If it is one successful thing that I'm good at, it'll be that kept my family away from unnecessary danger."

"John…."

He interrupted her. "Just stop." Joan hesitantly back off. She never heard John like this.

"Alright, I'm sorry." She said apologetically and headed upstairs to check on Jaune. She knocked on Jaune. She knocked on his door. "Jaune? Can I come in?"

"Yeah." He said meekly, as if he voice was muffled. She opened the door to see her son head underneath, curled into a little ball, underneath a few blankets. She came over to her son's bed and sat down rubbing his shoulder.

"Jaune… what's wrong?" Already knowing full well what he was upset about.

"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to make Dad upset." He sobbed underneath the pillow.

"I know honey. I know. He isn't mad, he just wants to make sure you are alright." She rubbed his back in sympathy.

"I didn't mean to remind him of Uncle Thomas." Jaune sniffed. "I…. miss him…."

"I know, we all do. You just have to remember that he loves you and he will always love you." Joan said steeling her own voice. "He's in a better place now."

"Are you sure?" Jaune asked turning to face his mother.

"I am." She said sweetly.

"Pyrrha saved me out there. I think Uncle Tom would have liked her, especially if wants to become a huntress." Joan inwardly cringed at the conflict that would be rising between John and Pyrrha. Sure, Pyrrha was still a child, she may change her mind. However, Joan felt that Pyrrha was going to become a huntress no matter what.

"I bet he would have too." Joan stood up. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah…" Jaune's tone a little lighter. "Mom can you do me a favor?"

"Hmmmm?"

"Can thank Pyrrha for me?"

"Sure." She left his room and head over to Pyrrha's room and knocked. "Pyrrha can I come in?"

Pyrrha heard the knock and got off of her bed. She headed at the door with an urgent pace. She opened the door to allow Mrs. Arc to come in. "Hey there Pyrrha." She closed the door behind her.

"Hello." She said, her voice losing all of its previous warmth. Joan hugged the little redhead.

"Thank you. Thank you for saving Jaune." Her voice began to break. "I…. We….. are so thank you…."

Pyrrha stood there for a moment unable to comprehend what she was talking about. How did I save Jaune? She just reacted without thinking, but it didn't explain how she did it. She did the one that felt right and returned the hug. After an emotional embrace. Pyrrha broke away slightly. "Mrs. Arc?"

"Yes?" She responded.

"Who is Thomas?" Pyrrha asked noting how Mrs. Arc frowned at the name being mentioned. She led the redhead to the bed and gestured for her to sit down. Pyrrha sat down as Mrs. Arc took the chair from the desk and sat in front of the little girl.

"He's." She rubbed her hands nervously. "He was…. Mr. Arc's twin brother… and was almost like Jaune's second father."

"Wha…. What do you mean second father?"

"John wasn't around that much…. He was always hunting trips, and well Thomas would always stop in when John was away and take care of the family…. He was a good man. I'm sure he would have loved you."

"He sounds like a good man." Pyrrha said. That's why Jaune was really upset with the mention of Thomas. This man took care of him just like his own father. "When…. When did he go?"

"It's been three years…" Joan sighed remorsefully looking out at the window. "Three long years." After a few moments of remembering the past, Joan came to. "Pyrrha. I want to help you become a huntress, but let's keep that between us. It'll be our little secret alright?" Pyrrha nodded confusedly, not understanding why she had to keep it a secret. "We'll go out in the woods and train for a bit, but you can't let anyone know, especially Mr. Arc, that also means Jaune as well." She nodded again without fully understanding what was happening.

Joan stood up. "Alright, you should get some rest. I'll call you guys down when dinner is ready."

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Hi guys!**

 **Thanks for reading! As always, if you have any thoughts on the chapter, please feel free to leave a pm or a review and I will try to get back to you as soon as possible. If you have thoughts, ideas, suggestions, feedback (good or bad), opinions, reactions, predictions, let me know! I love to hear from my readers!**

 **Now on to important business.**

 **Soooo... I have been following a group of fanfic writers called Legion205. I absolutely love their stuff and I watch their streams occasionally when time permits. That being said, I owe them a huge thanks for writing amazing fanfics, and to be honest, for my inspiration of writing fanfics just in general. This guys are the coolest to me! I highly highly highly recommend their stuff.**

 **I also wanted to thank these guys for creating a fun and vibrant community. It was because of this group that I have joined a small collaboration with other Legion fans. We have dubbed ourselves Division 502. That being said: I want to absolutely want to stress that we are not trying to copy Legion. We look up to Legion and we want thank Legion for bringing all of us together... and basically allowing us to share our love of fanfics just in general. We are a collab group that is actively trying to raise awarness of Legion 205 and who actively support it. We love these guys and we owe them so much! So a huge shout to them!**

 **Expect our little project to be released in about a week or two... (that's all I'm going to say... and let me tell you... I am super excited for this project)**

 **Another side note. For those who are actively getting more involved and want to get to know the author of Shattered Past and Arkos Books, I will start streaming on Look up LordxSauronx15. Stop by, say hello. Stay awhile eat some snacks, we can have little chats and stuff while you watch me play games that I will fail at and other games. I may or may not have other guests within my streams who would also love to talk with all of you! I want to get to know my readers on a more personal level, and I figure that this would be a better way!**

 **-Thank you for all of your support. It truly means the world to me!**

 **Lordxsauron**


	8. Chapter 8: Ashes Part 1

**Shattered Past: Chapter 8 Ashes Part 1**

 **I DO NOW OWN RWBY**

 ***Three years later***

A ten year old Pyrrha was sitting in the cafeteria. She looked out of the window to see the ground covered in a few inches of snow. She shivered in her red hoodie and black sweatpants, just looking at the snow caused her to shiver uncontrollably. Winters were almost unbearably cold for her.

It was a lonely table, as people were too afraid to even converse with the young polite redhead. All they saw was a violent redhead who ripped out the teeth of a poor child. She has been so lonely for the past three years. She let out a sigh and continued to pick at her food, trying to ignore the occasional glances she was getting from her own classmates.

"Sorry I'm late." Jaune plopped himself down, his messy blonde hair getting in his blue eyes. "I've been held up by Mr. Shaffer."

Pyrrha smiled. Even after the incident with the bully, then the incident in the forest of Whitehall, Jaune stuck by her no matter what. "What for?" Pyrrha asked happily seeing her friend. She also felt a return in her appetite. She started to eat her food instead of toying with it.

"Ahh nothing really…. I might have caused a scene in his class….. again….." He said in an innocent tone.

"Hmmmm…." Pyrrha hummed out loud with an amused expression. "Did you break another one of Mr. Shaffer's beakers?"

"No…." Jaune said defensively, she was getting close.

"Test tubes?" She tried again…

"Nooooo…."

"Jaune please tell me you didn't…"

"Microscope."

"Jaune… how?" Pyrrha said amazed.

"I was carrying the microscope to the lab table and I slipped…." Jaune said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

Pyrrha giggled. It was amazing at how clumsy he was at times, specifically in Mr. Shaffer's class. It seemed that he was extremely clumsy in Shaffer's class. It also didn't help that all the students thought it funny to hear the teacher's high pitched shrieking when he yelled.

"It seems that the only time you drop anything is in that class." Pyrrha pointed out with a smile.

"Weird huh?" He gave a sheepish grin. To the untrained eye, Jaune would look innocent, but to someone who knows Jaune quite well, she knew he was lying.

"Suuuuuureeee….." Pyrrha chuckled as she took a bite from her burger. After a few minutes of the two eating their food. Pyrrha let out a sigh. She lost her appetite again.

"What's wrong?" Jaune asked, concern in his voice.

"Ah it's nothing." She said looking at how most of their classmates were eating away from them. Jaune connected the dots.

"Pyrrha forget about them, they don't know you." Pyrrha frowned at Jaune. "I'm being serious. I know the truth, you know the truth. That's all that counts."

"I know… it's just that…. I look at you, and people aren't afraid to be around you, but people can't even talk to me." Pyrrha voice was so stricken with sadness.

"Well forget them. They weren't meant to be friends then." Jaune's resoluteness in his voice helped to reassure her, but she still didn't want people to be afraid of her.

"Thank you Jaune." A gentle warmth coming back into her voice.

"For what?" He asked.

"For being my friend since the beginning." She smiled.

"No worries, besides thanks for being my friend too." He returned the gesture. "So any big plans for the weekend?" Jaune asked, already knowing what she was going to say.

"Whatever you're doing." She said happily.

"Awesome." He grinned. "You know… I hear that Crystal is setting up a movie night…" He knew that would make Pyrrha smile.

"Movie night?" Her voice grew with anticipation. Movie nights were extremely rare in the Arc household. It was hard to coordinate with seven sisters. The great thing with movie nights was that there would be popcorn, and Pyrrha had an unhealthy need for movie theatre popcorn. "Which movie?" She asked, rubbing her hands already drooling with anticipation of the sweet buttery goodness, with the bonus of a movie to go with the treat.

"I think it was Gangs of Vale…" He tried to remember.

"Gangs of Vale? Won't your parents care that we saw a violent movie like that…..?" She almost sound down trotted.

"Crystal will find a way. We'll just have to keep it a secret…." Jaune rubbed his hands mischievously.

"I can do that." She gave her own mischievous smile.

 ***RING RING RING***

Jaune and Pyrrha waited until everyone left the cafeteria before the two did so. This had become a standard routine for the two for the past three years. They deposited their trays and left the cafeteria. Walking down the hallway, they noticed one of the teachers running towards office.

*Beep* Will students report back to their homerooms. This is not a drill. Will students report back to their homerooms immediately. Jaune decided to follow Mr. Shaffer from a distance.

"Jaune… we need to go…"

"It's just a drill…" Jaune continued down the hall.

"You heard the announcement. They said it wasn't a drill…" Pyrrha insisted.

"It's fine." He peeked his head down towards the main office.

 ***BOOM*** An explosion resonated through the building. The front doors were blasted apart.

 ***BANG* *BANG* BANG*** Gunshots echoed.

 ***CLACK CLACK CLACK*** Automatic gunfire started. One person went down then another. Jaune felt a hand tug him but he couldn't look away. Mr. Bietler was riddled with bullets as he fell to the ground. Mr. Shaffer was trying to get away he was shot in the back. A figure in a black combat suit, balaclava , armed with dust powered assault rifle. He walked over to Mr Shaffer who was crawling away. The man point the assault rifle the dying man crawling away from him and unloaded the clip into the man's back.

"Jaune we need to get out of here!" Pyrrha forcefully dragged the traumatized boy.

"Guys! Over here!" Mr. Morrison whispered over from down the hall. Pyrrha dragged Jaune along who was starting to come around. "We'll hide in my room.

*Beep* "Students. Teachers." An angry gruff voice spoke over the intercom. "We are the Legion of Ash. By now, we have secured the building. Our men are patrolling the building. We don't want to harm any of you, but if we don't get Jaune Arc, we will kill and keep killing." The voice stopped for a moment. "Jaune Arc, I'm sure you don't want any of your friends to die because of you." Jaune turned white hearing the intercom. This was all happening to him. Mr. Bietler died because of him. Mr. Shaffer died because of him. The idea made him sick. He wanted to throw up. He realized what he had to do even though he didn't want to.

"Guys I have to go to them." Jaune said somberly, his voice trembling at the thought. "They want me... I-I just don't want anyone to get hurt because of me..."He stopped looking, cold sweat starting rundown his forehead.

"Jaune… no." Pyrrha kept pulling him, but he pulled away from Pyrrha.

"Pyrrha, they want me. I have to go."

"Please. No."

"JAUNE ARC!" Mr. Morrison's voice rose in anger, something they never seen or heard. "DON'T BE STUPID!" He picked Jaune up and carried him back to the classroom towards the end of the building. Jaune squirmed, trying to break free.

"Jaune please…" Pyrrha pleads fell on deaf ears.

"Let me go!" Jaune snapped back as Mr. Morrison tossed him into the room with Pyrrha following him. Mr. Morrison quietly closed the door, locked the door, and turned off all the lights, giving off the impression that no one was in the room.

Jaune got up and ran over to the door but was cut off by Mr. Morrison. "Jaune. You are not going out there." He said in deadly cool voice. "Everything will be settled when the police arrive. Who knows what they want with you."

"You don't understand!" He cried out

 ***Thwack***

Jaune was stunned by what just happened. Pyrrha mouth dropped, eyes wide with surprise. Mr. Morrison's calm eyes burned with an intensity that would make a bodybuilder back off. "Shut up. I won't tell you again. I will not allow one of my students be placed in danger as long as I live. They are looking for you.

*Click Clack Click Clack Click Clack* Boots could be heard heading down the hallway.

"Shit…" Mr. Morrison cursed silently. He headed over towards the coat rack which was covered with coats. "Hide here. Don't make a peep. Is that understood?" Jaune and Pyrrha nodded simultaneously as they scrambled to hide themselves among the bookbags and coats. Mr. Morrison filled the gaps that Pyrrha and Jaune couldn't get.

 ***BANG* *BANG* *BANG***

The door was smashed open, Mr. Morrison lept back in shock. "What do we have here?" Jaune and Pyrrha could hear. Jaune silently made a little gap for the two to see.

"I don't know why you're here, but I don't have anything. Please just go." Mr. Morrison stood defiantly in front of six heavily armed men in all black. They're faces were covered, but Jaune didn't need to see them in order for him to tell that they were sadistically grinning.

One stepped up in front of the group of six. "From our records." He pulled out a scroll and held it up to Mr. Morrison. "You are Mr. Morrison, and one at point, you had a certain Jaune Arc….. and… an adopted Pyrrha Nikos….?" The man hummed.

"What of it?"

"Where are they?" The man said pulling out a side arm and pointing it right Mr. Morrison.

"I don't know." Mr. Morrison said resolutely. "Even if I did know, I would for sure not tell you."

The man chuckled. "You have no idea who are talking to buddy." He took his sidearm and pointed it at the knee and fired a shot. Mr. Morrison crumbled to the ground screaming out in pain as the dust powered round tore through his knee, tearing through tissue and shattering bone.

"Where?" The man chuckled. "I can do this all day."

"I'm not telling you." said as he held his knee. The man in black took his black combat boot and slammed it down on the already shattered knee. Mr. Morrison let out a terrible scream, ear piercing cry of agony.

"Where?"

"I'm…. Won't say…. A…. thing…... "

Another kick. Another cry.

Jaune couldn't take it seeing his teacher get hurt so terribly, he scrambled out of pile of coats and bookbags, Pyrrha jumping after him.

"Stop please! Here I am!" He pleaded, grabbing the man in black by the lag, tears running down his cheek.

"Heh. Lucky day." He said as he shoved Jaune down. Pyrrha rushed over and helped him up, hovering over him. The man gave a brief hand wave in the direction of the two children. Two men rushed over, putting rough black gloved hands on their shoulders. "I want them to see this."

The leader look downed Jaune. His face covered up except for his eyes. "Jaune. You could have done the right thing and gave yourself up…. You made me do this." He chuckled as he pointed his revolver at Mr. Morrison and emptied the gun into his chest. Blood quickly pooling out of his dead body.

"NOOO!" Jaune screamed out in anger, pain, and frustration. "YOU MONSTER! I HATE YOU!" The leader walked over to Jaune who was struggling to get free.

 ***THWACK THWACK THWACK*** The man smacked Jaune three times. Each time getting hard until Jaune had to spit out blood.

"Jaune! Please stop! We didn't do anything to you!" Pyrrha shouted as she struggled to get free. She wished her feeling that helped in previous situations returned, but there was no feeling. No sense of familiarity.

They were dragged out of the room leaving a dead Mr. Morrison. The two men carrying the children who were still squirming to get free. They took them to the cafeteria where a group of thirty men in black were standing around a map of the school.

"Boss." The leader of the smaller group turned around. One man turned around, revealing a bald head, one eye, and short white goatee. "Jenkins." The man said in the same voice that was heard over the loudspeaker.

"We found them." The two men threw down the children at the bald man's boots.

"Indeed you did." The man smiled, which turned quickly into a frown. "What were your orders?"

"To find the kids sir." Jenkins said.

"AND NOT TO HARM THEM!" The bald man shouted, causing everyone to flinch away.

"Sir….. I forgot…."

"We may be terrorists, we may be revolutionaries, but we are not savages!" The bald man pulled out a knife and rammed it into Jenkin's gut. And again. And again. Jenkins fell over bleeding out as the bald man continued his work. He continued to gut the body of what used to be Jenkins, blood pooling around the body. All of the other men nervously took several steps back.

"Is this a clear enough message? When I give an order… you follow them…. It really isn't that hard." The bald man face palmed. "Fucking idiots." He kicked the dead corpse several times.. He turned around to face the children. He kneeled down gave them a warm smile.

"I'm not going to hurt the two of you." The man said.

"Then why did you hurt him?" Jaune asked.

"Because he hurt you." He responded naturally. "Jaune, you're special, your family's special." He looked over to Pyrrha. "Miss Nikos, your family is special as well, as will be special one day." He patted each child on the head and stood up. "I just want to talk to your parents, that's all. I swear. Afterwards, I'll let all of you go." The man gave a happy, warm smile that could have fooled anyone. He gestured for two men in black to come over to them.

"I don't want anything to happen to these two. Hurt them and I'll hurt you. Am I clear?" The two of nervously nodded. The two of them led the children to an unoccupied corner of the cafeteria. The guards kept their distance and occasionally looked over.

"I don't believe them. They are going to hurt your parents." Pyrrha whispered.

"I know." Jaune said despairingly. "If only Tom were here…. He would be able to get us out of this….."

"Jaune, we have to focus on us right now." Pyrrha said wisely.

"I don't know what to do….."

* * *

John and Joan were outside of the perimeter wall clearing out a small pack of beowolves. "Well… still haven't lost the edge." Joan noted as she collapsed her halberd. For John, it was a bittersweet affair. He loved to hunt, to spend time with his wife, but it also reminded him of times before. It reminded of him of why he hunted, of why he was always an inferno of anger when finishing a hunt. Just like that the anger was buried away.

They made their way back to the gate. Joan realized that it might be time for her to tell the truth to her husband. By then they made it back within town and towards their house. "John…" She was cut off by the sound of their own scrolls being called simultaneously.

The listened to the callers on the other end. They both froze up instantly. The local school was attacked. Hostages were taken. Their demand was simple: John and Joan Arc will surrender or everyone in the school dies. Thankfully, Abella was sick and stayed home, but Jaune and Pyrrha were taken hostage. Worst yet was they had found them in the school.

"John…" She muttered.

"I know…. But we have to go in."

"If we go in, people will die."

"If we don't go in, everyone will die." John sighed in frustration.

"We can't" Joan argued.

"With back up you can." They heard a familiar voice said. They looked over to see Qrow and Raven Branwen.

"Qrow? Raven? What are you doing"

"We heard what happened." Raven's eyes flashed with intense anger.

"We couldn't let our sister team down now could we?" Qrow chimed in with a smug grin.

"So then… where is Summer and Taiyang?" John asked.

"Dealing with their child." Raven said neutrally. Qrow winced, while John's jaw dropped. Have they really been out of touch for this long?

"Ouch…" John said which was rewarded with a particularly brutal punch on the shoulder by his wife.

"What we mean to say is that we are so sorry for what happened." Joan tried to fix her husband's faux pas.

"It doesn't bother me. You didn't know." Raven said neutrally again, although Joan could have swore she saw her grit her teeth.

"Well anyway… We have your kids to save and I have a plan." Qrow said as the four of them headed to the school.

 **A/N**

 **Hey readers!**

 **Soooooo….. I've been debating if the story is going to be changed from 'T' to 'M' I just wanted to give you guys the heads of the change. Things will start to get pretty intense…. (as we've seen from this chapter xD)**

 **If you anything you wish to share, if you liked the chapter, or if you have any feedback, please feel free to leave a review or a pm. I love to hear from my readers. If you have questions about plot or the story in general, reactions, suggestions, feedback, predictions, or anything, please feel free to share them!**

 **As for Division502…. The second chapter of Cell 502 will be released soon, so keep your eyes open for that if you are following that. I also wanted to thank Snotboy, Knight, and Secret from Division in editing and suggestions! Big shout out to them!**

 **Again just wanted to have another shout out for Legion 205! Thanks guys!**

 **Finally…. The next update will either be for Conquest or Arkos: Book 3. After those two have been updated, I will release another chapter for Halo!**

 **Thanks for reading! It means the world!**

 **-Lordxsauron**


	9. Chapter 9: Ashes Part 2

Chapter 6- Ashes Part 2

A/N- Story has been changed to Mature.

Her family was special. How was her family special? That's what the man said. Were the two connected somehow? Whatever happened to her, was it somehow connected to her missing memory? Her family? It hurt to think about. That man. That man said she was somehow special. Special like her family….

"Pyrrha." Jaune mused her out of her thinking.

Pyrrha and Jaune noted how the previous men in black started to file out of the room, except for two men and the bald man with one eye and white goatee walked over to them. "Hi there guys." He crouched. "You can call me Stanford." Two men stepped forward and held them down. Stanford said warmly. "Now make sure you listen to all of my directions or else people could get hurt, and we wouldn't want that right?"

"What are you planning?" Jaune growled.

"Just making sure your parent come in here peacefully." He chuckled. "Now let's take them to the auditorium." The two men nodded and escorted them towards the auditorium. The auditorium was dimly lit except a spotlight aimed at the center of the stage with two chairs. Stanford gestured for them go up the stairs that led to the stage.

"Come now, resisting won't solve anything." He nodded at the two guards who dragged the two children up the stairs. "Tie them up" Stanford ordered. The guards nodded off and sat the children down and tied them down. "Watch over them, I need to see how the manifesto is coming." The guards relaxed once they saw their leader gone and proceded off the stage to find better seating.

"Jaune… why is this happening?" Pyrrha whispered.

"I don't know…. But he said that our families were special…." Jaune realized what he said. He quickly looked over to Pyrrha. "Pyrrha, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"It's fine." She brushed off his concern, although it did make her think. Whatever happened to her family was because they were special, for whatever reason. The thought also made her sad to think if they were normal, she would still be with her family, then again, she wouldn't have met Jaune. She was cut out of her line of thought.

"Are you alright?" He whispered. She just nodded, not wanting to betray her feelings, being a mish mash of everything. "Pyrrha, really I'm sor…"

"I said I'm fine." She said abruptly cutting him off. A few minutes of awkward silence went by. They could hear the guards laughing and carrying off in a distance. Pyrrha let out a distraught sigh. "Jaune… I didn't mean to snap… I shouldn't have… It's just…"

"Pyrrha relax, I understand, you don't like to talk about your past."

"I don't like to talk about it because I don't remember it."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I don't remember a thing…" Pyrrha sounded defeated once in her life. Jaune always knew her to be a bright and optimistic friend. Hearing her so beaten tore him up.

"We'll find out, together. I promise, that is if you wanna…."

"I don't know. I honestly don't know." Pyrrha shook her head. "I don't know if I can….. Everything is too messed up…. I mean look at where we are at."

"Pyrrha listen to me." She focused with all of her strength on Jaune. "We will get out of this. I promise you. You're one of the strongest people I know. We'll make it out of this, just hang in there. Alright?" She nodded , being somewhat comforted by his confidence in her. She nodded.

Their attention shifted away when they heard a door open from the entrance of the auditorium, their jaws dropped.

* * *

"I hope Raven's plan will work." Joan said with a sigh.

"Have some faith." John said confidently as the two walked towards the boarded up entrance of the school. They found the unlocked. Just like how Qrow and Raven said they would be. "We've worked with the Branwens before, they've never let us down before." He said as he opened the door, his wife following them.

"Blood." Was the only thing Joan could say before she dropped to the ground as she clenched her neck.

"JOAN!" He felt something puncture his neck. The only thought he could clearly think was how something was able to get past his aura. Everything started to become a haze and slowly turn to black. Before he lost everything he heard a voice. "Secure them and take them to the auditorium.

* * *

Qrow and Raven flew over John and Joan. They did several circles over the two. Raven, deciding it was time, took the lead and flapped her wings towards the high school. Qrow followed her lead. They glided towards the roof of the building. Once they landed, they transformed back into their normal human forms. Raven and Qrow were both stretching their limbs to make sure they were fit for the coming operation.

"I love flying." Raven said with a smile. "So much freedom."

"Is that why you left? Couldn't handle being confined to the home life?" Qrow took a swig from his flask as he noticed his sister turn around, eyes set ablaze with anger.

"I left to make a better world for them." Raven growled. "A want a better world for Yang."

"You could have told Taiyang…"

"He would have tried to stop me…" Raven defend herself.

"Because you had a child." Qrow chastised her. "It's been years Raven, the least you could have done kept in touch with him. I mean you barely kept in touch with me. I mean don't you want your daughter to know about you?" Raven couldn't bear the weight of Qrow's gaze. He couldn't argue against him. She realized that she had made plenty of mistakes. However, she know she was going end one of the most serious threats to her daughter this day.

"I'll stay in touch. After today. I promise. Not only with you, but with our former team, and my daughter." Raven said resolutely. Very rarely did Qrow smile when it came to his sister. Let alone hug her.

"I know it won't be easy." Qrow admitted. "But you're doing the right thing, I'm proud of you."

"It means a lot for you to say that." Raven broke away. "Now let's stop these bastards." She grinned as she found maintenance hatch that led into the school.

* * *

"MOM! DAD!" Jaune screamed as he watched the strongest people in his life being dragged up the stage unconsciously. "YOU MONSTERS! WHAT DID YOU DO!?" Tears coming down his cheek as the men died his parents up two other chairs.

"Shut it kid." One man in black said.

"I'll KILL ALL OF YOU!" *SMACK* The man in black smacked.

"You wanna keep it up?"

"FUCK YOU!" *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK *SMACK* The guard continued to beat Jaune. One hit was so forceful it made blood spurt out of his mouth accidently all over Pyrrha.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Pyrrha shouted.

"You want some too bitch?" *SMACK* The man backhanded her. He froze as he was apart to smack Pyrrha. Pyrrha gasped as she saw the blade of knife sticking out of the man's throat.

"I thought I made it incredibly clear." Stanford pulled out the blade. He reached for a handkerchief wiped the blade of it's blood. "Now bring in the camera."

"Got it." One of the guards said. He climbed the stage with a camera and a tripod.

"MOM! DAD! PLEASE WAKE UP!" John started to stir and struggle. Joan did the same soon after.

"No….." John whispered. "We thought you were dead…"

"William! How could you have fallen so far…." Joan surprised.

"Because you left me for dead." Stanford smiled. "Don't worry, I won't leave you with the same indignity for all of you. Don't even try using your Aura, you were shot with an Aura inhibitor."

"William… please leave them out of this. They're just kids." John pleaded.

"I wish I could." Stanford sighed as he tested the camera. "This isn't personal. I hope you know."

"If you harm of them I'll end you most the painful way you could ever imagine." Joan said coldly.

"I don't think that'll happen." He gestured at one of the soldiers. "Gag them." The nodded and shoved rags into each one's mouth. "Start on my mark."

Stanford moved towards the center of the camera, straightening himself out. He gave a thumbs up and cleared his throat. "Good day everyone. By the time you get this tape, everyone will be dead." He said formally. He took a long sinister dagger. "We are the Legion of Ash. As a species, we are a plague on this world. Our very existence is corrupting Remnant as we expand and develop and have inadvertently destroyed the environment in the name of advancement and progress yet we are losing a war. A war we have no business fighting. WE AS A SPECIES SHOULD NOT EXIST! ONCE WE LEARN THIS WE WILL HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR!" Stanford said resolutely. "Hunters are pinnacle of our society, the ones who are supposed to protect those who are defenseless. Well we have seen how corrupt and divisive these so called hunters have been become, constantly pushing humanity to achieve new abominations to destroy nature. Why do you think the Grimm exist?! IT'S BECAUSE WE DESTROYED THE SOUL OF REMNANT! NOW REMNANT HAS DECLARED WAR ON HUMANITY! Ever since the hunters existence we've been at war with Remnant. Well No more! We will right the wrongs that humanity has done to Remnant."

He walked over towards John. "From this day on, we declare war on the hunters and those who support the hunters." He took his knife and rammed it into John's abdomen. John cringed as the blade pushed deeper and deeper into his body. "Ashes to Ashes. Dust to Dust, let nature return in force once more." Jaune and Pyrrha were both screaming in a muffled manner. Joan tearfully glared at the man.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" A voice called angrily, Stanford turned around to see a woman in red clothing and black hair carrying a dust infused odachi. A man behind him carried scythe dealt with the guards, slicing through the men that were supposed to guard the room.

"I'LL KILL YOU WILLIAM!" Raven stormed forward, Odachi in hand cutting two men in half as she stormed up the stage.

"RAVEN!" Qrow shouted he rushed up the stage. Stanford fumbled with reloading a pistol. It was already too late, Raven was on him. She swung her Odachi at the pistol causing it to be removed as well as the hand that held it. Stanford collapsed to the ground clutching his stump of a hand.

Raven tossed her odachi and sheath on the ground. Fire in her eyes, blood rage in her eyes. She picked up Standford by the neck and threw him off the stage. She jumped off and started waylaying into him. "YOU." Punch. "SON." Punch. "OF." Punch. "A" Punch. "BITCH!" She screamed letting all of her anger on the man's face. "YOU KILLED YOUR OWN TEAMMATE!" She pounded the man's face in.

Qrow got busy untying the Arcs and their adopted daughter.

"YOU THREATENED HIS FAMILY!" That sent Raven over the board as she screamed it. She just kept on punching on man's face until it was bloody pulp. Blood was spraying from the impact of each punch. Blood splattering her in her hair.

Qrow rushed John out of the auditorium and towards the medical staff waiting outside of the building.

"Raven." She kept on beating the dead body.

"RAVEN!" She felt a hand on her shoulder and snapped towards the direction of owner of the hand.

"WHAT?!" Raven roared in anger. Realizing who it was she instantly calmed down. She then noted the two children who watched her. Both of them zoned. "I'm….. I'm….. sorry…. I lost it….." She backed away from the dead body as she examined the her blood drenched hands and arms.

"Let's go. We need to find John." Joan said she handed Raven her Odachi back in it's scabbard

Raven felt something on her leg. She looked down to see the redheaded girl hugging her.

"Thank you." She said. Raven blinked unsure what to do. Then something in her made her kneel down and hug the poor girl. She looked so familiar, Raven was sure she knew she met before, but she couldn't place name to her. "We'll make sure he's alright." She nodded, Raven held the hand of the redhead as Joan held Jaune and escorted them out of the school. They were barraged with cameras flashes and reporters. "You guys get going. I'll be there in a quick second." Raven slowed down a little. Joan ushered Joan and Pyrrha into the ambulance, there were startled they heard the loudest shout ever.

"GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!" Raven roared at the top of her lungs which made all of the reporters scatter. Raven boarded the ambulance and sat down next to the somewhat familiar redhead girl. The ambulance started up as the paramedics closed the door. Raven let out an exhausted sigh looked at the floor. She was too slow. If she was fast enough, John wouldn't have gotten injured. John would be alright. There was still no news on John. The guilt was starting to eat at her. For too long Raven had made too many mistakes, abandoning her family, leaving her daughter, stay out of touch with friends, avoiding Qrow, and now she could mark up what happened to John on the long list.

"I'm sorry. I'm so incredibly sorry." She said sullenly, looking at the ground clenching her hair, hoping it would distract her from guilt. It didn't. "I should have been faster. I should have just busted through the front door. I should have found out sooner." Teardrops ran down her cheeks. She looked at the blonde boy who was just completely zoned out. If she was there sooner he wouldn't have seen his father get stabbed. How much mental damage has that caused, let alone him watching her cave someone's skull in with fists alone.

"Raven, it's alright. We're glad you got there in time." Joan spoke up softly, still dazed.

"But I didn't though…." She said bitterly, not able to meet her gaze.

"You did though." The familiar red headed girl. "You saved us from that man. You saved all of our lives." Raven bitterly laughed in her mind. Not all of them.

"Thank you." Raven whispered desperately.

Pyrrha noted how the older woman in red was really stricken with grief. Although she wasn't there to save Mr. Arc, she did stop those terrible men. She did save their lives. That made her a friend in her book. She wasn't that mean either. "My name is Pyrrha."

Raven froze, turning white. Pyrrha. Pyrrha? Pyrrha Nikos? No. Gods. NO! They were all dead! She saw the house burning down. She busted through the door, no one was was there. So much blood. Blood everywhere. She went there to warn them of the appending attack, but she was too late. No trace of the Nikos. All that blood. It haunted her to the core. She was too late to stop all of it. She thought she was too late to save them. She then tried to find their little girl to no avail. She assumed the worst, now she was wrong. How wrong she was. She quickly snapped out of it. She promised that she would not let the Nikos down again, but should she tell her?

No. When she is older, when she can understand. Raven smiled.

"Nice to meet you Pyrrha, you can call me Raven. I'm an old friend of Mr. and Mrs. Arc. and I hope to be friends with you two as well." Pyrrha hugged her in response, looking at the older huntress with those same eyes her mother had. It tore her up on the inside.

"Is… D-D-Dad going to be alright…..." The blonde boy asked zoned out as if he was in was in his own world. His mother hugged him, even though she was really with it still. "I'm sure he'll be fine." She whispered more to himself then to her son. Raven decided to help Joan.

"Your dad has seen so much worse." Raven said confidently. "He's a fighter. What's your name?" Raven asked warmly.

"J-J-Jaune."

"Well Jaune, can I see your hand." He slowly extended his hand hesitantly towards the red clad woman with long black hair. She took it with a firm but gentle grasp with her own. "I promise all of you that something like this will never happen again. Your dad will be fine. You'll be fine. I promise all of you." Even if I have to kill everyone on this planet. She silently promised.

"I don't know how our family is going to be able repay you and Qrow…." Joan started to come back to earth. "Consider the Arcs to be in your debt."

"Anything for friends." Raven reached out to place a reassuring hand on Joan's knee, which made her smile. At that the ambulance stopped. The paramedics opened up the backdoor. They formed a group. "John will be fine." Raven reassured them as she saw Qrow outside waiting for them. He looked as if he saw a ghost, all of his color gone, a hollowed out expression.

As they approached, he gestured for Raven and Joan to come closer. "You may want consider saying your goodbyes. They say he may not last long." Joan collapsed on her knees shrieking as Raven knelt down beside her.

 **A/N**

 **Hey guys!**

 **How is everyone doing?**

 **So some big things happened… and that ending…..**

 **So Raven is going to play a more important role in the story just as the story progresses.**

 **Tell me what you guys think! If you have any predictions, reactions, opinions, feedback, let me know! I appreciate all of the feedback you guys give me. It means the world!**


	10. Chapter 10: Raven's Revelation

_**Chapter 10- Raven's Revelation**_

 _ **I DO NOT OWN RWBY!**_

"I'm so sorry." Qrow moved over to help pick Joan up, who was sobbing uncontrollably on the ground. "Raven, I'll take her in. You look after the kids." She gave a curt nod and moved towards them.

"He's going to die….? Jaune shuddered at the thought. "Why? He…. can't…."

"No." Pyrrha said as she moved to embrace Jaune. "He's going to be fine. He… has to be…. He just has to be….."

"Come on, let's see if we can find somewhere to sit." Raven said as she took off her red plated black leather gauntlets and strapped them to her belt. She held each child's hand as she watched her brother Qrow try and console their mom. _I can't believe I'm forming more of a connection with the Arcs then with my own family_ , Raven thought silently frowning. Her red eyes glazed, deep in thought. _I can't even look at my own daughter_. She lamented. She felt a tug on her right hand. She snapped at her own thoughts and tried to put on a more caring, positive exterior. She smiled to find the Nikos child looking up at her.

"Is Mrs. Arc going to be alright?" Her face etched with concern for her caregiver, the closest thing to a father she has to father now.

"She just needs some time… to calm down." She gave a reassuring squeeze. The redhead only nodded. Raven looked down to see the Arc boy out of it. "Jaune everything will be alright."

"He's… going to die… he's… going to die…." He just kept repeating. Raven kept mentally beating herself for this. _Dammit Qrow why did you have to say that in front of the kids…._ She thought to herself. Even with her terrible track record as a human being, she still had the common sense of watching what she said around the people around her. _None of this would have happened if I was faster. That bloody bastard Standford_.

Raven dropped down one knee, her thigh high boot landing on the sidewalk of the hospital. He pulled the two kids into a hug. "Don't ever say things like that. Sometimes you have to have faith." Ironic, how she had little faith in anything these days, the world was a cruel but beautiful world. She waited until the blonde hair boy calmed down. Once satisfied that two children were somewhat at ease, she broke away and continued to lead them into the hospital there they found a waiting room. She gestured for the two children to sit down.

"BREAKING NEWS!" A new anchorman reported over the hospital T.V.. Raven's red eyes zeroed in on the T,V. all of the staff in the waiting room watched the T.V. intently.

"We have just received news that there have been simultaneous attacks and hostages taken by a group calling themselves the Legion of Ashe. Locations attacked include Mistral, Vale, Atlas, Vacuo." The reporter announced. Raven turned as pale as a ghost. _How? They were all killed off today._ A list of locations within the kingdoms appeared. _No. No. No_. She failed. Then it appeared. Patch. _Gods no._ Raven mentally screamed as she started to tremble.

Qrow came in with Joan who seemed under better control. Joan sat down beside the two kids. Qrow stood beside her sister who glued to the t.v. and trembling violently. "Raven. What is it?"

"We didn't do it." She could barely whispered.

"Didn't do what?" He raised his eyebrow.

"We didn't stop them…. We failed. They were so much larger than what we could have guessed." She let out a defeated breath trying to steady us. "I have to go."

"Raven, I thought you said you wouldn't leave."

"Breaking News: Reports have just come in from Patch, the terrorists have been killed, no hostages were harmed. However one hunter did die." _Oh no_. The only two hunter at Patch were Taiyang and Summer…. "Summer Rose gave her life getting the hostages out of the local school." Raven's fist clenched into tightly held fists. _Why. Why. Why._ Why. Summer. _Why couldn't it had been some travelling hunter._ She pounded desk with all of her might. Joan and Qrow rushed over.

Qrow hoped with all of his being that everything was alright in Patch. He knew his sister had taken hard. She had been on a mission to hunt down any kind of evil in the world. She wanted to make the world a safer place, an admirable goal. However, there have been disturbing rumors that a group of extremists that had been targeting Hunters. The Legion. Raven was so convinced that they the Legion was a threat, that she dropped everything at home to hunt them down, to prevent them from ever threatening her husband, her daughter. Now they killed one of their closest friends and Yang's surrogate mother, and Taiyang's wife, Summer Rose.

Qrow realized that how much pain his sister had to be in. "Raven."

"It's…. It's…." She heaved silently. "My fault….. This happened."

"Raven. Stop it." Joan turned the tall woman with long black hair to face her. "You couldn't have known that any of this would happen.

The doors opened up. "Mrs. Arc? Mr. Branwen?" Qrow and Joan got off their seats. Jaune and Pyrrha looking at each other nervously. They headed towards a surgeon in hospital scrubs. He pulled back his mouth shield.

"We were able disinfect the wound and stitch everything up as best as we could. We found the blade was coated in a toxin, we were able to flush most of it out. However, his aura isn't working properly. Naturally his Aura would be taking care of the poison…" The doctor's voice trailed off. "... we have yet to determine what is blocking his Aura, but we did find an abnormality in his blood."

"Is he going to live?" Joan breathed quietly.

"We don't know. We've placed him in a medical coma, hoping his Aura will be able to rebuild itself." The doctor said. "We would also like to take blood samples from you and your children to see what may be affecting Aura and if you any signs of abnormality."

"You don't need to get the children involved." Qrow protested. "Nothing happened, I witnessed it."

"I'm sorry, but it's standard medical procedures." Qrow was about to rage when Joan jumped in.

"We'll do it."

"What do you think they're talking about?" Jaune watched closely, trying to listen to Qrow and his mother's conversation with the doctor.

"I don't know." Pyrrha watched the facial expressions. Both adults did not seem happy with the doctor. Pyrrha looked over to Jaune was gripping the chair so tight that his knuckles were turning white. She put her hand over top his. "Something happened to Raven though."

"I wonder if it has anything to do with what happened today." Jaune thought to himself as he watched the adults

"Qrow could you please do me a favor." Raven asked quietly, leaning on the hospital desk.

"What's up?"

"Call Taiyang and check in on everyone."

"Raven… you should be the one who does that…"

"Qrow please. I just can't please." Her voice was barely audible He nodded. "Fine I'll do it." He lamented. Raven let out a long breath. Qrow took out his scroll and checked the time. It was getting rather late. Raven picked up the cue and decided to head over to Joan.

"If you want, you can go home and we can stay here."

"I'm not leaving."

"But you-" Qrow began

"I said I'm not leaving. That's final, but I want them to get some rest." Joan looked over to the two children who were watching all of them

"Qrow and I can take them home. We can look over them, and bring the rest of them up here tomorrow." Raven suggested thoughtfully, trying to calm herself internally.

"That would be greatly appreciated." Joan smiled the first time today.

Raven went over to the kids knelt down. "Hey, me and my brother are going to take you guys home."

"I'm not leaving." Jaune replied

"We want to stay." Pyrrha said.

"We'll be back tomorrow, I promise." They hesitantly looked at each other other and nodded. They took her hand. Joan walked over to them. And hugged each one. "The doctor's need some blood to run their tests." Both of them nodded. Jaune watched as the doctor took some blood from his arm.

Pyrrha watched as the blood was taken from her arm. ' _Blood is on your hands.'_ A voice said in her mind. 'The person who took into their home, you caused his family's suffering. It should have been you.'

' _No stop. They love me.'_

' _Do you love them though?'_

' _Of course I do.'_

' _Then you shouldn't be with them.'_

' _NOOO!'_ Pyrrha screamed internally as the doctor finished his blood tests. "Alright, you're free to go. If there are any problems make sure to check yourselves in immediately."

"I'll be here for the night, I'm going to make sure dad is alright." Joan whispered.

"We can stay." Pyrrha offered.

"We should be here." Jaune claimed.

"You two had a long day, you need rest. I'll see you bright and early tomorrow. If anything happens, you'll be first to know." Joan promised to the children. They didn't look happy but they understood. Qrow hugged Joan.

"We'll be back tomorrow. Call if you need anything." Joan nodded.

Raven, holding the hands of the two children, with Qrow following beside her. Thankfully, the hospital was a few blocks away from the Arc home. Jaune was struggling to stay awake now. It had been such a long day. A terrible day. He just wanted to wake up from this nightmare. He prayed that this was all a dream.

Pyrrha was able to handle everything a little bit better. She can't believe everything had happened. The terrorist attack, the killings, them being taken hostage. Mr. Arc. What was caused all of it. That Standford…. He claimed it was the hunters who caused all of it. He blamed the hunters, but didn't hunters protect people. It wrapped itself, and then the man said that their families were special. Jaune's family, and Pyrrha's family, which she couldn't remember. But why? Why were they special?

"We're here." Qrow said silently. He went ahead of them and knocked on the door. Crystal, the oldest Arc opened door.

"Mom! Dad! Jaune! Pyrrha!" Crystal could be heard from the other side of the door. As she opened the door, she froze, recognizing who it was. Qrow, and a strange woman in a red and black combat dress, long black hair flowing from the back with same red eyes as Qrow. "No…." Her voice trailed off as she also saw Jaune and Pyrrha. "Where are my parents?" Crystal whispered.

"May we come in?" Qrow asked. Crystal hesitantly nodded. Crystal held the door open, Qrow walked into the familiar Arc home and towards the living room. Raven, not knowing the layout, follow his lead, children in hand. There they found a quaint room with two large sofas, a table, and two recliners facing the T.V. Crystal followed them, mouth hung open slightly. "You might want to get the rest of them. We've got some bad news."

"No." Crystal breathed cringing at the thought.

"Crystal. Please." Qrow asked. Crystal lazily turned around and called everyone done stairs. "Abella, Mabel, Catoline, Bridget. Come down here. Now." Crystal strained. The Arcs trampled down stairs to find two strangers sitting on the couch with Pyrrha and Jaune. "It's alright. This is Qrow, he's a friend of Mom and Dad." Crystal gestured to the tall, lanky man with dark, spiky hair spiked up and slicked back. He had a red torn up cape. He wore a dark gray dress short with black dress pants.

"And this is…." Crystal trailed off.

"Raven. I'm Qrow's sister." The woman with black hair, red eyes, who wore a red and black combat dress.

"Raven." Crystal finished. "They have something to tell us." She finished as she ushered the Arcs to sit. She already had a bad feeling.

"I don't know how to say this, so I'm just going to say it." Qrow breathed in watching the Arc children. "There was a hostage situation as you know. Jaune and Pyrrha were involved." All of the Arcs looked at their brother and adopted sister with horrified looks. "We and your parents went into the school to stop the men…" Qrow froze up, realizing he didn't have it in him to finish it.

"Your father was wounded, and we don't know if he will make it. Your mother is with him right now. She's fine."

"He was wounded?"

"It was my fault. I take responsibility. I wasn't fast enough." Raven admitted.

"He was injured because you were lazy?" Catoline said, her blonde ponytail swaying angrily.

"Hey that isn't fair! She helped! If it wasn't for them. WE would be DEAD." Pyrrha stood up crossing her arms.

"Like I said. It was my fault." Raven repeated bitterly.

"You're a terrible huntress." Catoline spat.

Raven couldn't argue against that. She just hung her head. "That isn't true." Her head jerked up. Jaune was seething angry. "If it wasn't for them. For her." He pointed at himself at Pyrrha. "WE WOULDN'T BE HERE. MOM WOULD BE DEAD! DAD WOULD DEFINITELY BE DEAD!" Jaune shook tremendously, Raven watched as Jaune pointed a trembling finger at her. "I watched her kill the bastard who was going to kill us." None of the Arcs said anything. Qrow and Raven looked at each other, unsure how to proceed.

"Thank you. Both of you." Crystal said wiping away her tears from her sapphire eyes. "We should all be grateful."

"But-"

"All of us." Crystal repeated sternly which made Catoline shut up. "We can see them tomorrow?"

Qrow nodded. "I'll take you there myself." Crystal nodded.

"Alright get going, head up stairs get ready for bed." Crystal ushered the Arcs up stairs.

Qrow looked over to Raven "I'll make that phone call." Raven nodded in thankfulness. Jaune and Pyrrha just slumped on the floor in exhaustion, clearly wiped out. She watched them with a smile. _They would make good hunters one day, a great team._ She mused to herself. Though after this, she doubted their parents would ever let them after this. _A shame._ "Raven what made you want to become a huntress?" Snapped her out of her musings. Raven blinked her red eyes and looked down to Jaune asking. Pyrrha, intrigued, turned around as well.

"I wanted to stop bad people, like the people today..." She said quietly. She had failed that. She also whispered "I wanted to protect my family from people like them." Jaune nodded understandingly.

"You have a family?" Pyrrha asked innocently.

"I had one." She whispered barely.

"Kids why don't you get ready for bed." Qrow suggested as he appeared from the question. The children at each other both agreed to do so. Once they were both upstairs, Qrow sat across from Raven who fidgeting. "Well… Yang wasn't involved in the attack." Raven let out a sigh of relief. "Unfortunately Summer…. The news was right. She didn't make it… Taiyang is really torn up now." Raven ran her hands through her hair, shutting her eyes to the terrible truth.

"Raven, how many times do I have to say it… It wasn't your fault." Raven felt the words just rip open her chest. She got up unsteadily, and rushed towards the door, dry heaving. She continued to run ignoring the shouts of her brother. She shape shifted and took flight towards the only place she could go, home.

The flight to Patch took a few hours, but Raven was fueled by her determination. She came across a small, quaint, two story log house. She perched herself on a branch that was so familiar to her. The branch that was just outside of Yang and Ruby's room. Raven wanted to go in and comfort the two girls, to comfort Taiyang, but she couldn't bring herself to do it, it had been nine years since she left. It warmed her heart to see Yang was comforting her little sister. They shared a bed as Yang hugged her sister to sleep. Little did they know they had a silent guardian watch over them that night, on the lookout for any signs of trouble. Ready to defend the house at any cost, should the need arise.

 **A/N**

 **Hey GUYS!**

 **I got a new chapter... so I want to clarify this. This not canon Arc family. Jaune does not have seven sisters, he will be having five, with Pyrrha if you count that, six.**

 **Now that being said, if you guys enjoyed the chapter please leave a review or a pm! It means a lot to here from the readers. Truly it does. Let me tell you... this chapter and last chapter was hard for me to write. Hey next chapter is going to be a dream sequence! WOOT WOOT!**

 **I also urge to check out Archer1eye's Red Huntress. Good story! Only getting better. I also urge you guys to check out RWBY Conquest which is a collab effort between myself, Archer1eye, Shaded112, SecretlySilentEvil, and Snotboy1186, and finally a big collab effort called Cell502 on KnightsofSprite account.**

 **Thank you for your continued support, and those who just started to follow, I'm glad you're on board! Means the world to me!**

 **-Lordxsauron**


	11. Chapter 11: Proposition

**Chapter 11- Proposition**

 **I DO NOT OWN RWBY!**

Everything was dark. Her emerald eyes opened to nothing. It felt like black emptiness of an ever expanding void, yet she felt so incredibly confined, as if the world was crushing down on her. She could make out a sliver light. She tried to make her way to the light which felt like an eternity. She heard people talking as she got closer to the light. She jumped as high as she could to realize she wasn't jumping, the light got closer until she could peer through the hole of which the light was breaking through. She could make out three people who talking in what appeared to be a living room. Two of them wore bronze like greaves, while one also wore a red crimson sash. The other pair of female legs were wearing thigh high black boots.

"Listen, I'm here to help. I've been following these people. They're dangerous." A female voice said.

"We'll be fine. We know how to protect our own. Pandora graduated top of her class at Haven and has fought in the Southern Land Rebellion. I've been three time Mistralian tournament champion. I think we can handle ourselves." A gentle yet confident masculine voice said.

"These people are experienced killers who kill hunters like sport. These aren't some kind of rebels or a tournament fighter. These people are ruthless."

"Ektor is right, I don't doubt your claim, but we look after our own. It's our way." Another voice said, her voice stern and confident.

"I am offering to help you! For free!" The first female said again.

"In doing so, you endanger yourself." The gentle masculine voice said.

"Together we can stop this threat! We protect your family. Your daughter will be safe."

"WE are perfectly capable of protecting our family." The female voice said. "We've made our decision."

Who was Pandora? Ektor? The other woman?

"Fine! But when they come, before you die, remember I could have prevented this!" The door slammed. The reverberation of the door slam cracked the black wall. It slowly crumbled away. Hands hammered away, trying to break out of the black hole. A part of the wall broke of which allowed for more light to shine through. Becoming even more frantic to get out of the black hole, the prisoner kept bashing away until it was small enough for someone to crawl through.

Pyrrha climbed through the whole to find that she emerged from nothing She just materialized into the living room. She also found the living room completely empty, no signs of life, of habitation. It was void of all human contact except from one thing, the drip drop of blood coming from the blood. Blood from the ceiling. " **YOUR BLOOD IS NEEDED TO APPEASE THE GODS!"** A voice rumbled through the house. Pyrrha ran out of the living room, ran down the hallway and up the stairs. It felt as the more she ran, the longer the stairs grew. After what felt an eternity, the stairs stopped growing. She looked to see the long way back down. Taking a moment

 ***CRACK BOOM*** A single gunshot echoed in the house.

 ***CRACK BOOM*** Another gunshot echoed in the house.

 ***CRACK BOOM* *CRACK BOOM* *CRACK BOOM*** Each gunshot shook her, as well as the house, to the core, plastering falling off the ceiling. Pyrrha dodged the plaster from hitting her which landed with a loud thud. She came to the room where the gunshots were heard. The door was slightly parted, a pair of emerald eyes peered into the room. A man was hovering over another blonde man. Pyrrha's heart sank… he looked so incredibly familiar. It was Mr. Arc. His long messy hair covered in blood. The figure stood over him turned around to reveal Standford, except there was something wrong with his eyes.

They glowed red. Red like Grimm. Pyrrha stumbled backwards falling to the ground. The Grimm Standford let out a massive ear piercing bellow as the the skin around his mouth began to fall off to reveal the fangs of beowolf. His hands began break apart with sickening bone crunching and cracking, as the bones grew out of the skin until he had the claws of beowolf. It lumbered towards the door, pieces of bone tearing through skin and clothing. "You're next." It said in a raspy low voice.

Pyrrha lifted herself up only to find that she tripped and fell back down. She kept back crawling away from the Grimm hybrid as it lumbered towards her, claws eager for the kill. She got up and ran down the stairs. When she turned towards the kitchen, she found the creature was already there there. 'No it was just upstairs. That's impossible.' She backpedaled towards the front door keeping an eye on those red eyes.

She opened the door ran outside. She looked around to see a ruined city, fire raining from the sky, ash gently falling down to the ground. She ran down the ruined street hoping to lose the creature. She looked behind her to see she lost it. She darted in an alley only to met by those two beady red eyes staring right at her, snarling fangs ready to consume flesh. "What are you?!" She shouted at the creature.

"You're next." It repeated, fangs growing larger. Pyrrha slowly backed up until she slipped off of the sidewalk and fell on the street. She tried to lift herself up off the ground but found she was stuck. The ash was sticky and binding her down to the street. As more ash fell from the sky, the more she couldn't move.

The creature lumbered towards her until it was over her, red soulless eyes peering into her own. It unhinged its jaws and brought it down around Pyrrha's head and closed shut. Turning everything black for what seemed an eternity.

* * *

Green eyes darted open, red hair caked in sweat. Pyrrha jumped up, tearing the blanket off to check if she was still whole. A sigh of relief confirmed it was just a dream. A bad dream. She looked at the clock 3:30 AM, realizing that going back to bed would probably lead to more nightmares, it would be pointless to go back to sleep. She then realized her throat incredibly dry and parched, she decided it would probably be best to get some water. As she walked across the room, she felt something strange. She felt Milo and Akouo give off a strange presence. She shook her head, it had to be her just still reacting to the dream.

She walked up to the door and open it ever so slightly, making sure not to wake everyone up. Checking to see if anyone disturbed, once she thought it was safe she headed down the stairs. She headed down the stairs silently, hoping to not make a sound, she did count to find someone in the living room.

"Qrow was out in the living room with the lamp on. He had been reading the newspaper waiting until Raven came back, if she would. No she would, he reminded himself. Qrow heard very faint footsteps down the stairs, his hunter instincts started to kick in when he started to reach for his sword scythe combo, to his surprise it was the redheaded girl. "Hey there Pyrrha." Qrow said gently. She almost jumped up from his voice.

Pyrrha almost jumped from her name being said. "Good morning" She finished quietly.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" Qrow asked as he folded up the newspaper.

"Just getting a glass of water." She went to the cupboard to get a glass as she filled it up from the sink.

"If you don't mind me asking, what would make you get up at this ungodly hour?" He asked watching the girl turn around. She looked so pale, as if something was eating at her.

"Uhh…. a bad dream." She whispered. He eyed the ril, he could make out cold sweat from her brow, her faint trembling, her fidgeting fingers. Her complexion.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I…."

Qrow realized he hit a sore spot. "That's alright, you don't have to if you don't want to, no pressure." He gestured for her to sit on the recliner. "Might as well make yourself comfortable."

Pyrrha nodded meekly and sat on the massive cushioned chair beside Qrow's sofa. Qrow got his newspaper back out, although he continued to watch the girl realizing she was still petrofied from the bad dream. What would make her cheer up?

"You know what would help my nieces feel better after a bad dream?" Qrow started nonchalantly.

"What?" The girl looked at him

"Chocolate chip cookies…." Qrow hinted, that made her lighten up a little bit. "What would you say if we made some cookies?"

Pyrrha smiled and nodded with some eagerness. Qrow you're a genius he mused to himself. He mentally patted himself on the back. They got all of their ingredients together went about making the cookies.

Once the ingredients were mixed and the dough, they put the cookie dough in balls in a tray and placed it in the oven. They almost forgot to hear a faint knock on the front door. Qrow whipped around and grabbed his sword. He opened the door. "Your back?" Pyrrha looked over to see who it was at this morning. "I smell something good." a familiar voice said. Qrow gestured for the visitor to come in. Pyrrha smiled to see Raven back, who looked exhausted. She placed her odachi sheathed up against the wall.

"Good morning Pyrrha…?" Raven greeted somewhat questioningly.

"She had a really bad nightmare." Qrow whispered, Raven nodded sympathetically. Raven smiled at Pyrrha as she made her way into the kitchen and sat the kitchen table. Pyrrha sat on the other side patiently waiting for the sweet chocalately goodness to finish. Qrow leaned on the counter, concern in his eyes.

"How was Yang and Ruby?"

"They were good. A little roughed up, but they'll be fine."

"Taiyang?" He questioned.

"I… I don't know…." Pyrrha eyed the two suspiciously listening in.

"You didn't actually go and check in on them did you?"

"I watched over them."

"It isn't the same." Qrow crossed his arms.

 ***DING***

"Well that smells good." Raven commented, Pyrrha nodded in agreement. Qrow went to get the cookies and pulled the tray out of the oven. After a few moments, Qrow placed a plate full of cookies on the table. Each of the early birds took a cookie and begun to munch.

"These are good Qrow, I didn't know you that you could bake…." Raven eyed him suspiciously.

"I didn't… Summer…." His voice trailed off. Raven looked at him feeling terrible, sharing in his pain of the loss of a fellow teammate and friend.

' _Whoever this Summer Rose , she meant a great deal to Qrow and Raven'_ Pyrrha thought to herself.

"Who was she?" Pyrrha asked innocently.

"A teammate." Raven answered distantly, as if remembering fond old memories.

"A close friend." Qrow sighed sadly.

"What happened?" Pyrrha asked.

"She went to fight the same people that attacked your school today." Raven whispered.

"Why did they do it? Why did they attack innocent people?" Pyrrha asked.

"They don't like huntsmen. They think we're bad people." Qrow tried to simplify the ramblings of mad group.

"When I become a hunter, I'll stop them from ever hurting them. I'll kill all of them. " Pyrrha scowled at the thought of those people yesterday. Of Standford. Of the nightmare.

"You want to become a huntsmen? Even after today?" A surprised Qrow asked.

"I do."

"As long as you don't let you hate control you. It does terrible things to you, it changes you." Raven spoke wisely as if from experience.

"You know the Arcs probably won't train you." Qrow frowned at the idea of wasted potential.

"I know" She said down casted. Raven smiled as she thought up of a brilliant idea.

"If they won't, I will." Raven suggested.

"What?" Qrow and Pyrrha said simultaneously.

"How are you going to do that?" Pyrrha asked.

"Aren't worried that Joan and John are going to be pissed with you?" Qrow facepalmed.

"Well I hate to say it, but I'll be honest with both of you." Raven relented. "Joan is going to be busy either way if Joan makes it or doesn't, so you'll be able to train secretly with me. As for Joan, I do care about her, she's a friend, but in the end, it doesn't matter what she wants, it's Pyrrha's decision."

"I want to become a hunter too." Everyone turned to look at Jaune who was wide awake. "Raven will you please train me? I don't anything like this to happen to anyone else, and if I can help stop people like these, that's all I care about." Jaune clenched his fists, remembering the events of yesterday so vividly. Raven nodded understandingly. "Raven can I talk to you real quick?" She nodded and followed Qrow outside, gently closing the door behind them.

"Raven, for Remnant's sake, you can't do this." Qrow sated as a matter of fact.

"Why not?"

"They aren't your kids. I mean hell, you have Yang you should be looking after, not them." a dumbfounded Qrow face palmed

"Qrow you don't understand."

"I understand that you need to worry about your own family."

"IF I GO BACK TO THEM THEY WILL BE TARGETED!" Raven's voice was filled with many things, guilt, anger, sadness, and most clearly evident, desperation

"What do you mean?!" Qrow asked.

"I've been the Legion's number one mark. I am not willing to endanger Yang and Ruby. If they find out…" She shuddered at the thought.

"Won't you be endangering the Arcs?" Qrow brought up

"I know the risks, but I can keep an eye over them. They're going to need now more than ever."

"I still don't like this."

"I'll be watching over the Xiao Longs and Ruby." Raven promised.

"I really don't like this…. But I guess I can help as well." Qrow shook his head.

"Thank you Qrow. For everything." Raven wrapped her hands around her brother.

* * *

Jaune and Pyrrha looked at each other. "We're going to be hunters!" They clasped each other's hands jumping joyously. They were happy, but they had their own reasons for doing so.

"How do you think your Mom is going to react?"

"I don't know, but maybe we shouldn't tell her." Pyrrha frowned deeply at that idea. She didn't like lying to the closest person that was her Mom. It just didn't feel right, then again, if she wanted to become a huntress, she might have to do that. She nodded in agreement. The front door opened up.

"Hey guys." Qrow walked in followed by Raven who nodded an acknowledgement. "So if you're up to it, we can go see your parents to see if your up to it."

"If you're also up to it, we can start training tomorrow." Raven offered. Jaune and Pyrrha smiled and nodded eagerly.

A **/N**

 ***EDIT*- Sorry guys, I was a little loose on the editing, I went over with a finer comb, I'm sure I still missed some stuff. If that is the case, I apologize.**

 **Hey guys,**

 **I know this was a little bit of a filler chapter, but I think fillers chapters aren't necessarily a bad thing, more time for character development and character relationships. That being said, I think we are going to have another time skip in about 4-5 chapters, then we start another story arc, and then, after that, Beacon. Speaking of which, I'm debating if I should keep the same teams or not (we'll see... but it won't be for a while.)**

 **If you guys like the chapter, leave a review or a pm and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can! I love to hear your guys' reactions, thoughts, suggestions, feedback, predictions, and so forth.**

 **Anyhow... hey a big shout out to Snotboy for helping to edit, you awesome man!**

 **Expect a Conquest chapter coming out soon... things are goin to get heated real soon in that. I'm start work Halo again. Finally, I'm creating backlogs for stories, so be patient with uploads.**

 **Thanks for all of the support. You guys are amazing!**

 **-Lordxsauron**


	12. Chapter 12: Awakening

**Chapter 12- Awakening**

It had been months. Months since the Legion attacks across the Remnant. After the initial surprise, the Legion faded into memory. People believed that most of them had died in the attacks and while the few survivors were hunted down by the huntsmen, police, and military within the four kingdoms, Remnant rested easy, security gradually faded and relaxed once the Legion threat had been dealt with.

However, others did not forget the Legion attacks. For those who were affected personally by the attack, every day was still a constant and merciless reminder of the Legion of Ash and their crimes against the people of Remnant.

To the Arcs, it still felt just like yesterday. Jaune and Pyrrha just finished up visiting their father at the hospital. Qrow stayed behind offering to take the rest of the Arcs home better. Raven offered to take the other two home, although to do something that none in the family expected or knew about. She helped to take care of them since their real mother was either hunting to make a living or at the hospital, she barely spent any time at home. It was up to Qrow and Raven to help out, when they weren't watching the Xiao-Longs and Rose. It was up to Qrow and Raven to be the surrogate parents for the Arcs while Joan was keeping constant vigil of her husband. That being said, the three adults had been extremely preoccupied.

"Run along now." Raven said she opened the door. "Get your weapons."

"You mean we can actually use our weapons now?!" Jaune rushed towards the living room excitedly.

"Yes, but you need to be careful with them. They aren't toys." Raven said sternly. Pyrrha went to her room and retrieved Milo and Akouo from their spot on the wall. It felt so… what was the word… right… for her hold them in her hands. It came naturally. She headed back downstairs to find Raven helping to reach for Crocea Mors that was hanging up above the fireplace.

They headed towards the kitchen and opened the backdoor. They had a brief hike in the woods. Pyrrha and Jaune eagerly followed Raven. Since they started training, they used wooden sticks so they wouldn't be hurt. They practiced with grip, stance, and how to swing the sword. Pyrrha was able to excel with one demonstration, Jaune was able to keep up after a few examples.

Once they were deep enough the forests they came across their practice clearing. "Alright you two." Raven said putting her odachi, Crimson Wing, on the ground. "Before we get started, we need to talk about something." She gestured for each one to sit down. They sat down.

"Have the two of you heard of Aura?" Raven asked, both of them nodded.

"Can you explain it in your own words?" Raven asked.

"It's the soul manifested outward to protect us." Pyrrha said, Jaune nodding in agreement.

"That's true." Raven said rubbing her chin. "Going more in depth, it also heals wounds that we may have. The more damage you take, the more your Aura is taxed to heal. However your Aura will recover in time."

"Do evil people have Aura?"

Raven frowned at the thought, after a moment of hesitation, she nodded. "Yes, unfortunately, all people have souls, even the true monsters." After a brief pause, she switched topics. "Today, I'm going to unlock your Auras and show you how to manifest your Auras." She gestured for Jaune to come towards her.

She placed a hang on her forehead and another over his heart. "Close your eyes, clear your mind, and listen to every word." Jaune nodded as he closed his eyes. Raven began the age old chant used on every hunter since time immemorial. She glowed an intense dark red as she manifested her aura and poured into the blonde child. "For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee." That moment, she peered into his inner being. She saw a determined child. A child who wanted to protect humanity, to be a source of good. She also saw his greatest fear, not being able to live up to the Arc's of old, not being able to bring honor and pride to the Arc name. The fear of not making his father proud of him. ' _Jaune you are so wrong. You are his pride and joy before everything else.'_ She mused to herself. She then saw a strange thread that was beginning to form, but before she could investigate, she was brought back to reality so suddenly and violently.

She coughed as she gasped for air. "Raven! Are you alright?" Jaune and Pyrrha both rushed over to help her back over. After sucking in a few large gulps of air. "Yeah….." She panted. "Just let me get some air…"

"What happened?" Jaune asked concernedly.

"I…. used my Aura to unlock yours….. I'm surprised… You have a lot, you almost drained all of mine." Raven smiled proudly "Now let me catch my breath, Pyrrha I'll do yours next." Raven straightened up. That took a lot of her, but what was that strange thread being formed. She never saw that before, then again, she never really unlocked anyone's Aura. After a few moments, Raven felt comfortable enough to do Pyrrha's.

She gestured for Pyrrha to come closer. "Alright. Same thing, close your eyes, clear your mind, and listen to every word. Alright?" The redhead nodded. Raven placed a hand on her forehead and a hand over her heart. Again, she glowed an intense dark Red as her Aura manifested itself and channeled into Pyrrha. "For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee."

Raven felt a wall that she hadn't experienced in Jaune. She pushed through, as she did, the wall started to glow grey. It had to be Aura. How the heck was her Aura already unlocked? That should only be done when someone wants to become a huntress. ' _Oh no. Determining a child's fate before they even know what they want to become? That's sick_. Raven thought. ' _Her parents must have done it. Should I tell her? Should I stop? No. I need to find out who she really is_.' She decided to try a different approach, instead she tried to present a more welcoming presence when she pushed through, it was met with no resistance. What she saw truly hurt Raven. It rocked her to the core. It was Pyrrha all alone, surrounded by an incredibly thick mist. Raven saw a little girl who was alone and scared and the endless sea of mist. However, she felt another presence. She felt and saw Pyrrha's fears. Not knowing what happened to her family. No home to call her own. The want to have her parents back. The fear of not being accepted by the Arcs. ' _Child, you already have a home that loves you more than you know._ ' She did feel her overall desire. Even though she was scared of her past, of the endless haze, Pyrrha wanted to find out about her past, to know her parents, to become a huntress, to protect the people who looked after her. Raven tried her best to clear out the haze, only to see come back instantly, and even thicker than before. It was then she felt something push her out. Raven fought harder, but the force pushing her out was too much. Raven's aura was forced out and back into her own body.

Raven shook her head, coming back to reality. "It's done." She lied. "I unlocked your Aura." It was for her own truth. I'll tell her when she's older.

"Now then. Let's get started. Your aura has been unlocked, it will always surround you. It will heal wounds that you may receive. If you train your Aura, one day you may be able to discover your semblance." Raven started to lecture. "You can channel Aura to protect yourselves by creating a barrier between us and those who want to harm us, doing so will darin Aura though." Raven looked at the two. "Before we go on, any questions?"

Both shook their heads.

"Excellent. Then let's get started. Before we start training with your weapons, we need to train in Aura." Raven stood up and picked up a nearby stick. "Clear your mind and concentrate. Concentrate on protecting yourself. On protecting others. Concentrate on on showing your willpower to the world. " She watched as Pyrrha began to glow a dark grey as Jaune sputtered white. Pyrrha was a consisted grey while Jaune trying to keep a constant presence. "Now close your eyes." Raven suggested as she came close to Pyrrha.

She took the stick and swung it at Pyrrha side. She reacted, but she did not cringed in pain. "Did you feel that?" Pyrrha did indeed feel it, however it didn't hurt. "Did it hurt?" She heard Raven ask. She shook her head. "Keep focusing, good work." Pyrrha realized that if her Aura wasn't up, that would blow would have stung really badly. Shen moved over to Jaune.

Raven went to hit jaune, it landed and connected with a loud thwack sound. "Jaune you need to concentrate harder. Raven instructed. "Now focus." Jaune shut his eyes tightly as he started to concentrate. ". Raven swung the sick harder. Jaune cried in pain as his aura didn't absorb any of impact.

Pyrrha watched in agony, watching Jaune was basically getting beat "Come on, get up." Raven commanded, her usual warmth gone from her voice and eyes, there was something else. "I said get up." She repeated with a deadly voice. Another painful thwack, and another, and another. Jaune collapsed to the ground, Raven looking down disapprovingly. He got up on shaky legs. She swung the stick right behind his knees, making him collapse to the ground. "Jaune. Get. Up. And. Focus."

Jaune got up, his side hurting, legs and arms were hurting. Raven decided to switch tactics. "Maybe you aren't worthy of becoming a hunter." She turned her back to the blonde ten year old.

The next few words shocked Pyrrha and destroyed Jaune. "You're too weak." It crushed Raven to say, but it was now or never. "I don't waste my time with weaklings."

Jaune felt two different emotions in a whirlwind of mental chaos. Betrayal and Anger. Raven betrayed him, felt as if she cared about him. Anger towards her for her betrayal and anger towards himself because was too weak." He felt something build up as if a storm gathering strength. It started to build upon itself.

"Do it again." He said coldly.

"I will not, I-"

"I SAID DO IT AGAIN." He barked. Raven swirled around in a graceful arc, the stick was moving so fast that Jaune didn't register it. It connected. Raven was surprised by the result that the stick not only shattered, but disintegrated.

She smiled at the boy surrounded in an intense white power flowing from him. Raven realized that she was feeling the affects of his Aura, she felt her energy level increase as if she had had the best night of sleep ever.

Pyrrha could feel Jaune's energy as if his strength was adding to her own. As if his Aura knew her, it felt calming, reassuring to Pyrrha. It was if it was a friend to Pyrrha.

'That's impossible for him to discover his semblance so early.' Raven thought to herself. Then again she forgot how emotions can empower an individual to the point of awakening a semblance. If this was his semblance, what would Pyrrha's be? It didn't matter, that would come another day. Right now she was just proud of Jaune's determination.

"Jaune I'm so proud of you!" Raven exclaimed, her warmth reappearing as if it never left. Jaune scowl slowly changing to confusion. "I'm sorry I had to say those things. I just needed to see if you could do it, and you did, easily. I think all you needed was a little kick start." She hugged him and gestured for Pyrrha to join. "I want you two to know something. I am extremely proud of the both you, of your family. All of you have proven to me that you can come together and support each other. ". She trailed off "I wish I could be as strong as both of you"

"We couldn't have done it without you," Jaune said finally understanding, Pyrrha nodded in agreement and hugged the raven haired woman even harder. A tear in one of her crimson eyes formed and rolled down her cheek.

"Thank you." She felt weight started to lift up as only new guilt began to form 'I should be doing this with Yang and Ruby as well.' She thought to herself.

"Alright let's go over grip and stance with your weapon." Raven gestured to Pyrrha. "May I see your weapon?" Pyrrha held it out as Raven took it.

Upon closer inspection, it was superbly crafted weapon. The metal was strong, the balance was just right. She found two small buttons. She pressed one of them, the hilt extended outward to form a spear. Odd, it has a barrel as well. She clicked the other button, and with a flick of the wrist, the spear transformed into a rifle as the extended shafted was actually the barrel of the rifle. "Seems that this weapon has many functions." She pressed the button and flicked the wrist, the rifle folded in itself and formed the sword. "However we will be worried about just the sword." The handiwork on the blade is extremely familiar. As if she saw it before. Whoever made that style of weapon, were very meticulous about fighting in any kind of situation.

"Alright" She retrieved her weapon, Crimson Wing, and pulled it out, the blade glowing with fire dust energy. "You want to hold the weapon firmly, not too loose, not too tight.": She showed how her hand wrapped around the blade. "You don't want the blade to leave your hand, but you don't want to feel constrained by it." She swung Crimson Wing in a downward slash then cut upward. "We'll incorporate the shield later, but for now just worry about being in control of your blade with both of your hands." She circled the two.

"Now, when in combat, make sure to have the correct stance. Keep your legs apart, and get lower to the ground." She reminded them. "When fighting without a shield, or even with a shield, You need to be fast on your feet to dodge, your sword or shield should be your last line of defense."

As the hours went on, they went through basic and different guards. They went through several different combat motions with their weapons. They went through how to parry their weapons, strikes, and counterstrikes.

They spent a good three hours hacking away at trees. "Lower your stance." Raven reprimanded with a stick. "Keep your elbows bent." She smacked his funny bone with the stick. She tapped Jaune. "Don't over extend." She reminded Pyrrha. "Jab, don't lunge." She reminded Pyrrha again with a stick twack to her exposed back.

"Good job guys. Tomorrow we'll see if you can land a hit on me. Now keep practicing your sequencing."

She kept a watchful eye on the two while her scroll beeped. She fished out her scroll and answered. The news from the caller caused her to drop her scroll to the ground. "Jaune… Pyrrha… I need to talk to the both of you."

 **A/N**

 **Hey guys! I got a new chapter out! Weewoooooooo!**

 **So I got some fun news…. We have a new person on the "Shattered Team" If you can call a two person group a team xD. Whatevs, point is that we have an editor. I would like to introduce our new editor: Shaded 122.**

 **Shaded: Yeah… I guess I'm here. If you read Conquest I'm a part of that as well… though I don't do much there. Also… Hi hope you enjoyed the chapter.**

 **Sauron: Shaded is being modest xD big claps for him though *starts to clap***

 **If you enjoy the chapter, please feel free to leave a review, pm, fav, or follow if you are inclined too.**

 **Other note: Next chapter is going to be a big one as it will be the end of this story arc. After the next chapter, we are looking to start a new arc, getting into Beacon and such, but I won't elaborate on that…. Fun fun though.**

 **Anyway, wishing you guys the best. Thank you for the support, it truly means the world to us.**


	13. Chapter 13: Unmasking Reality

**Chapter 13- Unmasking Reality**

What wrong?" Jaune asked. The older woman looked so conflicted.

"Your dad is awake," she said neutrally. Raven was petrified, should I tell him and Joan that I have been training the kids. No too soon. She also couldn't bear to look John in the face after the incident.

"Can we see him?" Pyrrha asked anxiously.

"Yes of course." Raven said absent mindedly "gather your things, we'll head back to the house."

Jaune was so relieved that his father woke up. It felt like everything may start to get back to normal. However, that one lingering thought came up. Should they tell him. He looked over to Pyrrha, her emerald eyes betraying her own thoughts.

"I wouldn't tell him," Raven said as if reading their minds. "It isn't the time."

"How do we know the right time will be?" Pyrrha asked.

"You'll have to trust me." Raven looked back as they continued their walk. "Or I can tell them. For now let's just enjoy the moment." She smiled at them, she should be sharing in their moment of relief

They reached the house, and took turns washing the grime and sweat off. It had been a long day of physical and mental stress. While the kids were getting ready Raven got her scroll and dialed Qrow's number.

"Qrow, John is awake."

"What?! When?"

"I got the heads up about an hour ago."

"I can't go, I'm looking after the kids. Taiyang is off on a hunt and won't be back for a couple of days." Qrow said saddly.

An idea popped into Raven's head. "What if we switch places? I could watch over the kids while they sleep and you can go see John."

"Do you really want to do that? What if one of them wakes up?" Qrow sounded legitimately surprised.

"They're kids, they won't, besides baby steps right?"

Raven's heart lept with joy, she's making progress overcoming her fear of being reunited with her family. Then again, what if Yang did wake up, or Ruby, how would they feel if a stranger was watching over them? Would they forgive her? What if Taiyang found out about it?

"Let me know when they're asleep."

"Will do..." He said hesitantly.

* * *

Pyrrha had just finished getting changed had wandered into Jaune's room. "Hello!" She greeted him warmly.

"Hey," he replied, deep in thought, looking at the ceiling.

"What's on your mind?" She asked sitting on his bed.

"I don't know, maybe how life will get better in the end."

"You guys deserve it." She admitted happily.

"No, we deserve it." Jaune reminded her "you're apart of the family just like everyone else, I mean heck you've been through thick and thin with us..." He let out a breath he was holding in. "I can't believe he's awake."

"I know what you mean," Pyrrha smiled at her friends relief, it was comforting to him. "Come on, let's go see him." Jaune got up with a tear coming down his cheek finally the family can start to pick itself up.

Raven watched as the two kids came downstairs, "Ready?" She asked holding the door open for the two, they began their short walk to hospital. The door slid open as Raven walked towards the reception desk. "We're here for John Arc." The nurse got a file. "Room 502, down the hall, fifth room on the right."

They followed the nurse's instructions and came upon room 502. With a great amount of hesitation a trembling red armored glove was about to knock on the door. After few moments and a clenched fist and gritted teeth, she was able to give a quick and curt knock which received a "come in" from Joan.

Raven opened the door slowly to see the entire arc family surrounding the patriarch of the family, Mabel and Catoline sat on the windowsill of the room, Crystal sat on a chair pulled up to her father's bed while Abella sat on the foot of the bed. Joan was standing right beside her partner and husband. All eyes were glued on the door.

To Raven, John has seen better days. He looked frail, his eyes sunken in, skin extremely Pale, as if he was dead. Was made it worse was that smile on his lips. 'How could he be happy? After everything that has happened, how could he be happy. His sunken in end eyes meeting that of Jaune, Pyrrha, and the worst part, his dull blue eyes meeting Raven's crimson eyes, smile ever present.

"Come in come in," his voice was so weak, trembling. He couldn't lift himself up.

Jaune left Raven's side and immediately stood beside his father.

"Hey there Dad!" Jaune eagerness just filling the room

"Hey there buddy..." He turned his head ever so slightly. "You're lookin' good."

"So are you."

"Good as a zombie huh?" John chuckled. He looked over towards the bashful redhead. "Pyrrha, don't be shy come on over."

Pyrrha would be lying if she didn't admit that she felt out of place, this was a time for their family to be whole again but she reluctantly walked over. "Hello!" She gave a cheery wave to match her chirpy voice.

"How have you been?" He asked pleasantly. "Have you been keeping Jaune in line?"

Pyrrha gave an award winning grin, "yes of course Mr. Arc."

"Still as pleasant as always." His eyes shifted to the last guest. Raven felt world crushing guilt as those blue eyes met her.

"Raven, come on in." Raven nodded and walked into the room, her black mane of hair following. "From what Joan told me, you and Qrow have been watching over my family and taking care of them." He struggled to lift up his hand to reach for Raven's. "You and your brother are family. I don't think we can repay the debt our family owes you. If you ever need anything or a place to stay, please don't hesitate to ask." She was very surprised at the near dead man's grip. It was like an eagle taking hold of it's prey.

Raven solemnly nodded. "Raven, it wasn't you fault. Things just happen, I don't blame you." Each word felt like an anchor being cut.

"Thank you John, you and your family have done so much for me." Yet one anchor held her down, the fact she was training two of their kids behind their back.

"I heard about Summer, I am so sorry, she will be sorely missed. She was my friend too."

"Thank you." Raven gave a sad smile.

"Raven I need to talk to you and Qrow. So what I'm going to tell you, can you please tell him." On cue, Joan ushered all of the children out of the room. Raven gave an unsure glance. "My Aura hasn't fully recovered. From what the doctors say, The abnormality is blood is limiting my Aura. I don't know if I can ever fully recover." John sighed looking at the ceiling. Raven felt the guilt come back heavier than ever before.

"I can't protect my family. I don't know if I ever can, and I don't know if this Legion of Ash will continue to be a threat, but if they are…. We're still one of their targets." His voice dropped. "I don't know if I can ask anything from you anymore… but is there anyway you can watch over my family?" He whispered.

This was her chance to maybe influence him, to talk him into training his kids. "Why don't you have them learn in self-defense? Just to be safe."

His sunken eyes bore into her soul. "I don't want my kids to have to learn to live in fear." It made sense.

Time for Raven to give a hint. "What if they want to learn to learn to defend themselves?"

"Let me guess, Pyrrha and Jaune?" he narrowed his eyes. "They want to become hunters I assume, and I assume you've been training them."

"H-h-how did you know…?" She stuttered in amazement.

"Call it father's intuition, I know Pyrrha was going to become a hunter, not to mention the two are inseparable. Where he goes, she goes and where she goes, he goes." He gave a slight chuckle. "Besides, they look rather fit for their age, fit from about five months would do to an individual training, especially training to become a hunter." Raven turned pale, eyes wide with surprise and horror.

"You look like you seen a ghost." John chuckled, Raven was completely dumbfounded by the man's perceptiveness and his ability to joke about any of this. "Raven, relax, initially I was against it, but Joan reminded me that you were number one in our class. I would have no one else train them."

"You mean that Joan knew about it?" Raven stared off into space, not hearing the door.

"Of course I did, I keep tabs on all of my children." Joan said with a grin. Raven was about to keel over from a heart attack.

"And you aren't mad?"

"As much as I want them to have a normal life, I won't stop them from achieving their dreams." Her voice deadly serious. "So, no of course I'm not mad."

"I' m sorr-" She was cut off.

"Don't be sorry, Like John said, you and Qrow have a place in this family" Joan embraced Raven. "You took care of them when I wasn't all with it. You treated them like they were your own kids." Raven frowned. "Sorry Raven, I didn't mean it like that…." She quickly recovered.

"Don't worry. It's alright." Raven smiled, feeling uncomfortable. "I should get going, Qrow will be stopping in to check in on all of you" She headed towards the door trying to to forget the past twenty minutes. She opened the door to see all the Arcs looking at her. She heard the pitter patter of small feet running towards her. Not surprising, it was Jaune and Pyrrha.

"Where are you going?" Jaune asked.

"Back home." Raven responded neutrally, trying to hide all of her emotions.

"Are you leaving for good now that Mr. Arc is awake." Pyrrha pleaded.

Raven shook her head with a smile. "No, I'll be back tomorrow morning," She knelt down between the two. "Plus I got a secret." They looked at her eagerly. "Your parents know that you want to become hunters, We don't need to hide it." The two looked at her mystified, then each other. They hugged each other clearly happy beyond all reason. They then hugged Raven. She gently pulled away.

"I have to get going. I'll see you two in a bit." Raven stood up and rustled their hair.

* * *

"So you aren't mad that we want to become hunters?" Jaune asked dumbfounded.

"Initially I was, remembering Thomas… I was afraid that something like that or" He gestured to himself "like this would happen to the both of you." He let out a sigh. "However, it's wrong of me stop you from achieving your dreams."

Joan stepped in. "So we've allowed for Raven and Qrow to continue your training. Seeing as how they were the best of the best, I would say you are receiving a better education than those attending combat schools."

"Are they really that good?" Pyrrha asked in amazement.

"Oh yeah." Joan remembered fondly. "Me and your father tried to fight Raven. Two against one, we didn't even get remotely close to touching her."

"That isn't fair. I got a strand of her hair." John weakly protested.

"Honey, that's why we lost." She smiled warmly.

"Wow." Jaune and Pyrrha continued to listen of their parents' tales of Beacon.

* * *

Qrow looked at his watch. 9:30 PM. He was freezing outside. Patch was particularly cold during the fall. He rubbed his arms trying to stay warm. He ventured outside to see a raven perched on a tree branch that overlooked the house. "Alright Raven, they're asleep. You can come down now." The raven cocked its head and _QAWWWWED_

"Come on, I'm freezing out here." Qrow whined. The raven flew down and shapeshifted into back into her normal self. "You still whine as if you were baby." Raven gave a playful shove.

"Are you sure you still want to do this?" Qrow asked, realizing this was a pretty big leap for his sister.

"We all have to start somewhere." She nervously started to rub her arm. Qrow would be lying if he didn't admit he was proud of his sister. She was moving towards the right direction. "Alright, I'm going to get going, if anything happens, you know how to reach me. I'll see ya in a bit." He ran off shapeshifting into his signature bird.

Raven was left alone in front of the small log home that she used to call home. As she reached for the door, something was giving her a strange vibe, but she chalked it up to nerves and quietly slid into the house. She was surprised to find it was still the same as when used to live there. Nothing had changed. Taiyang must not have liked change one bit. On a table she saw family pictures. She picked one of them up as her heart began to grow heavy.

The pictured showed a small redheaded child with silver eyes holding onto an older girl with blonde mane that was similar to Raven's but just a different color. Behind the two children hugging their children was an older man with blonde hair, stubble, and amethyst eye filled with joy. His arms wrapped around his partner and wife, a woman with red hair wearing white hood. She had the look of pure and unadulterated innocence and joy. It cut Raven to the core. Another reason why she couldn't forgive herself. She put down the picture with a tear in her eye.

She sat in the chair next to the front door, putting her odachi, Crimson Wing, within arm's reach. She started to settle down. Maybe it wasn't so bad, maybe she could find a way to be reunited with her family. Just maybe. No that was selfish. She reprimanded herself. You can't expect them to accept you with open arms after ditching them ten years ago. They probably don't even want me back, she sulked.

She ran her hand through the mane of her hair. She felt like she was getting short of breath. These thoughts were getting to be so much, she pulled out her scroll debating on telling Qrow to come back. That she couldn't do it. She started to stand up when she heard footsteps down the stairs. Her heart froze.

The pitter patter of the feet grew louder and louder, raven eyes grew as each step grew louder. She started to sweat uncontrollably as her throat grew increasingly dry. She wanted to leave, fly away, escape but as she wanted to leave, but she couldn't do it, something willed her to stay.

"Uncle Qrow?" A voice called out. Blonde mane bellowing her night gown, with a small head girl wrapped around her. Raven mind went blank. Should step out and reveal herself? Should she step out into the harsh light? Cast off the cloak of secrecy. Her body decided for her, she made no sound, no movement.

The blond girl's eyes moved towards Raven's location. Amethyst' eyes met crimson. They stood there for what seemed to be an eternity. Raven tried muster all of her strength. "D-Do you know who I am?" Raven caved in.

Ruby whispered "yang who is she?" As she hid behind her older sister

"It's... It's... It's... My mom..." She whispered so faintly. Raven's pounded so hard that it almost drowned out her daughter.

"Yang..." Was all she said

"Mom..." Her arms outstretched as she grew closer to the older woman.

"I... I..."

The front door creaked open.

Yang's eyes went wide as she she pointed and screamed. Raven instantly whirled around to see a figure wearing an odd nevermore mask peaked through the door, with a gun pointed through the door.

An all too familiar looking Nevermore mask was looking at mother and daughter. It's white bone like representation hid all human characteristics. Raven froze, remembering the mask all too well. It haunting her for most of her life.

 ***Guchink*** a puff air came from the barrel.

By then Raven had dodged the assailants round. The assailant quickly slammed the door. Raven chased after the hooded figure quickly grabbing Crimson Wing. She flung the door open.

How dare this son of a bitch try to sneak up on her, how dare they interrupt her and her daughter, how dare they endanger her family. How the hell did she become so careless to endanger her daughter.

The figure was fast, he ran as if he was possessed, Raven wasn't going to be able catch them at this pace. An odd portal opened up in front of the figure. The figure was just in reach, she lunged for him at last an attempt. Her hand made contact with his boot. That was all she needed

Her fingers clamped down and yanked down hard which cause the figure to roll over. Raven scrambled over him as he tried to reach for something in his robe.

Raven quickly pinned his arms down with her legs as her fingers clamped down around their neck. She forcefully bashed their head into the ground until blood seeped into the ground, which only made her continue her relentless assault with even more ferocity.

The Grimm nevermore mask only got bloodier and bloodier as she continued her attack. When everything was done, Raven was covered in blood. She lifted herself off, shaky from her bloody rage. She ripped off the mask of the dark robed figure, face was unrecognizable. She looked at the mask and hitched it to her belt, she had to show Qrow. It was also a memento of her greatest failure as of yet, getting too wrapped up in her emotions.

She searched the body to find a find a black pistol with odd quadruple point ammunition. Attached to side of the gun on a tactical rail. That had two buttons. She clipped all of the things she gathered and latched them onto her belt.

She reached for her scroll to realize that it was back at the house. 'Shit. Shit SHIT.' Yang was going to see her, see her as bloody killer that she was. The idea made her sick, but she had to get a call out

She approached the house, the door still open. She entered the home hesitantly, eyes scanning for any threats. She found her scroll on the table with the family photos. What she saw shook her to the core.

Yang and Ruby were cowering in the corner. Yang was petrified, she had been crying, tear streaks down her cheeks, her red angry eyes staring at the older woman. Her arms wrapped around Ruby protectively as if a lioness protecting her cub. Ruby was crying uncontrollably It warm and broke her heart at the same exact time.

Raven looked at the two, heart pounding in the chest to see them terrified of her. Raven dropped to her knees, the weight becoming unbearable. "I'm so incredibly sorry." She breathed. Her voice failing her "for everything."

Yang's anger lessened up a bit as Ruby stopped crying.

Yang got up and hesitantly walked towards Raven. Raven flinched away.

"Mom..." Yang whispered as Raven hung her head in shame.

"I... I..."

Yang hugged her instantly. Raven gasped in surprise. Where was the hate? The anger? She also didn't notice that Ruby was now hugging her. Raven took her arms and wrapped them around the two children.

"I'm sorry." Was all she could say which caused them to hug her even tighter. "I need to call your uncle" she said in a daze, she stood up, children looking at her. She took out her scroll and dialed Qrow.

"Qrow... There was an attack..." She heard herself say but felt so incredibly distant

"Raven?! What happened? Are you alright? Are the kids alright?" He frantically shouted.

"Yeah I dealt with it. They're fine."

"Are they awake?" Qrow asked suspiciously.

There was a few minutes of silence. "Yeah." She finally confirmed.

"Then that means they are with you..." Qrow confirmed more for himself then for Raven. "Raven, I'm so sorry."

"Listen can you please just come here, I need to show you some things."

"Will do." Qrow ended the call.

* * *

"Raven said that there was just an attack on Xaio-Long home. She needs me." Qrow said as he pocketed his scroll.

"Any idea who did it?" Joan asked

"She didn't say, but she did say that she was the main target for the Legion. "

"Which means that they will target her family." John said angrily.

"My thoughts exactly."

"Go and give them an extra beating from us." John eyes were back with fiery revenge

Qrow gave his confident smirk as he slicked his hair back. "Trust me, will do." Qrow said as he left the room.

Pyrrha and Jaune looked at each other, they shared the same exact feeling of dread. 'It's not fair, first their family and now her family.'

* * *

The front door opened up, Raven pointed Crimson Wing at the door ready to run through the intruder.

Qrow stepped through to be met by the end of Raven's blade. He quickly put his arms up defensively. "Woah there sis, I know being all gung ho is your thing but take it easy."

Once she realized it was Qrow, she instantly lowered the blade. "Sorry, I've been on edge."

"Huh no kidding." He muttered as his eyes scanned the room. Where were his nieces he thought to himself. "So they know then?" Raven gave grim nod, he knew the pain she was going through.

"So what are you going to do?"

"I-I don't know". She sounded so incredibly distant, which really bothered Qrow. Usually his sister was always focused, she was as sharp as a razor, for something to have Raven so completely distracted, it had to incredibly traumatic for her, and he could only think of one time that she was this out of it... When she decided to leave her family to begin with.

"Raven hang in there." He hugged his older sister.

"I just don't know Qrow."

"Did they say or ask anything?"

"Yang knew who I was, and I..." Her voice started to crack. "And I..." Tears started to fall

Qrow smiled at his sister. Even being away from her family, she still has a heart of gold, no matter what she tries to convince herself.

However, his smile slowly faded away. Qrow knew that Raven was so bites rpg conflicted on what to do. "Hey, one thing at a time. Alright?" He placed a reassuring hand on his sibling's shoulder, she snapped into her usual self with a curt nod. "There we go. So tell me what happened."

Raven recounted the tale of Yang and Ruby waking up, f the hooded figure with the nevermore mask, which was currently clipped to her belt.

She handed him the mask, she noticed how his eyes rose in surprise. She continued to tell her tale of how her assailant tried to shoot her with the gun she handed him. Finally she recounted the tale of how the hooded figure tried to leave via a portal which Raven surmised was created via from the small device that was mounted on the side of the barrel.

She gestured for the mask back. "Why do you want it?" Her brother asked.

"A reminder" she said coldly.

"For what?"

"That was I careless, and it almost costed my life as well as Yang and Ruby's."

"Rav.." She snatched the mask out of his hand.

"I'm keeping it." She said neutrally. "So what do we do now?"

"We do nothing, I need to call Taiyang, you need to go and tell Ozpin." Raven went pale when she heard Taiyang.

"So what are you going to tell him?"

"That I was attacked." Qrow smirked

"I'll get ready then." She hesitantly reached for Crimson Wing. "You wanna say good-bye, don't you?" Qrow asked. Raven froze,her shoulders sagging "I should, shouldn't I?" She turned to look at him, who had an expert poker face. He let on no emotions. It was her time to to make these decisions. She let out a bewildered sigh. And started to head up the familiar stairs.

She walked down the hallway and turned left. She put a gentle hesitant hand on the door. She twisted the doorknob and quietly pushed the door open to fnd yang wrapped around a small ruby. The act of sisterly love warmed Raven, it reminded her of her own childhood and how Raven often allowed Qrow into her own bed after having nightmares.

She walked into the bedroom, making sure not to make any sound which was rather impressive for the amount of gear she was carrying. She gently knelt down beside the blond's side and gently shook Yang. Yang startled, almost let out a scream if it wasn't for Raven who put a finger on her lips "shhhhh" and gently calmed her down.

Yang looked at her Mother. She still did not to act to towards the older woman. She had the same wild hair she had, only black. Her eyes were crimson red like yang when she gets angry. She had the same facial structure as Yang just older. Yang always knew that Summer was not her mother, but she still took care of her as if yang was her own daughter. Now after losing the person who had taken care of her, her real mother, a stranger, was here before her.

"Mom?" She wiped the sleep from her eyes.

"Yes Yang." Raven smiled. "Listen, I need to get going..." Her smile slowly changed to a frown. Why did she have to go?

"Why?" She asked dejectedly.

"To make sure your safe and Ruby are safe." She brushed some stray blonde hairs in front her daughter's eyes.

"Will you be back?" Yang asked.

"I...well... I don't know... "Raven caressed her daughter's cheek, her voice wavering.

"Mom can I ask something?" Raven pulse increased.

"Anything."

"Why did you leave us?"

"To... Protect you..."

"From what?"

"From the people who took Summer away." The bitterness seething from Raven shocked Yang. "The people who want to hurt you and Ruby."

"Oh." Yang said sadly. "Can I ask one more question?" Raven nodded, growing more anxious by the moment.

"Mom, do you love me?" Her voice was pleading, so desperate, so needing. Raven blinked, surprised that her own asked that question. Then again, she shouldn't have been surprised by the question. She did leave her family after all.

Raven hugged yang, to make sure she did not disturb Ruby. "Of course Yang. I have always loved you and will always love you, no matter what. Nothing will ever change that. Alright?"

Yang smiled which made Raven's heart jump through loops.

"Do you think you can do me a favor?"

"Sure." Yang whispered eagerly with a smile.

"Do you think you could not tell Dad about me?" Yang's smile quickly evaporated

But... But why?" Her face etched with confusion.

"He can't know about me just yet, it's to protect him and you." Raven bit her lip.

"Just for you mommy." Yang hugged her which was still a completely foreign experience to her. Raven ran her hand through her daughter's blond mane of hair. "Remember, I am and will always be with you". She said as she headed towards the door.

"I love you." Yang said with a smile

"I love you too Yang." Raven smiled as she closed the door behind her. She made her way to the steps and sat at the top, Qrow watching.

"You don't want to go." Qrow said.

"I don't" she admitted.

"Then stay."

"I can't."

"Why?"

"You know exactly why." Raven growled. "Tonight just proves everything I feared. They will hunt me down wherever I go. We got lucky this time, but what if I wasn't here? What if they targeted her? Taiyang? Any of them. I won't be their cause of death." Raven was almost panicking now. "They've hunted us, ME, since we were kids, Qrow."

Qrow held his hands up defensively.

"Alright alright calm down, I'm sorry.. but. what about after though? When everything is taken care of."

"If." Raven said pessimistically.

"When." Qrow corrected her.

"I don't know, all I know now is that we need to focus on the here and now." She grabbed crimson wing and attached the sheathed blade in its dust revolver to her waist. She checked to see if she had everything. Gun? Check, mask? Check. Possible portal device attached to gun? check. Her own weapon, obviously check. "Good luck" Qrow smirked as his sisters over preparation.

Raven look at him with a warm smile. "Have fun explaining everything to Taiyang."

"Yeah... Don't remind me." At that, raven left patch and flew to her destination, Beacon.

* * *

"So." Ozpin leaned back into his chairs, tapping the tips p his finger. "You believe this hooded individual to be related to the Legion of Ash?"

Raven nodded.

"May I see the gun?" Raven placed the gun on the headmaster's desk, watching intently, Crimson eyes watching the headmaster quickly and deftly disassembled the gun to the amazement of the huntress.

He picked up the quadruple tipped ammunition and examined it with a fine eye. "Oh my..." He whispered as he placed the round on his desk. He picked up the small black rectangular device with two small red buttons on the side.

He also quickly disassembled the box to reveal to small vials of red dust. "Just as I thought..." His voice grim.

"Sir?" Raven curiosity peaked

"And you said that the individual who used these attacked you?" Raven nodded.

"Well then... I do believe you're lucky to be alive then." Ozpin put the device down on his desk. " raven furrowed her brow. "Why?"

Ozpin took a sip from his traditional coffee mug. "Well this..." He picked up the odd ammunition "is an ultra rare Atlesian Aura disruptor dart."

"How is that even possible? I've never heard of anything that can breakthrough Aura."

"I won't pretend to know the science behind it, but I do know that it punches a hole through one's aura and prevents it from manifesting itself. From what I have heard it has a residual effect of causing Aura to recover at a substantially slower pace.

 _'That's what happened to John and Joan,'_ It started to make sense now. She straightened up realizing the implications of this new weapon. It would effectively make hunters obsolete and easily disposable if their Aura was taken away.

"As for how Legion acquired them, I'm not too sure." He tapped his chin deep in thought. "But I can look into it." Ozpin picked up the small rectangular device. "And… this…. This is what the Atlesian Spec Ops would call a Rifter." He gleamed as he admired the device. "This little beauty opens up two way portals through the use of Aura, dust, and the mind."

"Sir is this even possible?"

"Atlas loves thinking outside of the box," He chuckled. "This device opens a portal using a special kind of dust, but maintains the portal using an individual's Aura. As for setting a destination, you need to have visited the location before and have a clear image of it in your mind. Don't ask what happens if you don't make the two requirements." Raven shuddered at the thought.

"Impressive."

"Impressive indeed Mrs. Xiao Long." Ozpin did not fail to see Raven's cringe at the last name.

"Branwen." She corrected.

"Miss Branwen…. And I remember how you hated to be called that..." Ozpin corrected himself, Raven frowned even more. "I have been tracking all threats to humanity for a very long time. You yourself have recently been doing the same as well. I assume to make the world a safer place for your family." Raven was impressed by the old man's analytical abilities. "I know your reputation as a cold hearted killer, but I realize you still cherish the most important things in this world. You still have the heart of a good person. When I met you so long ago in the cave you called a home with your brother, I was surprised at the amount of loyalty you had towards him. To see it blossom even more and extend to your teammates, friends and family, has been a true blessing for me to witness. Never lose sight of that." He stood up from his desk and looked outside of the window of his office, surveying Beacon. Raven went to join him.

"Trust me when I say that Legion is a relatively unknown threat even since your very first encounter with them."

"They're a threat. Especially now more than ever. I still have the sneaking suspicion that their attacks were just a test. Tonight just shows how incredibly advanced they are. They may have infiltrated the Kingdoms, or at least have friends within the kingdoms to help them." Raven grasped the hand railing. "I have a real bad feeling Ozpin. We already know they are actively targeting hunters, openly now, and they have the means to do so."

"Indeed they do." Ozpin agreed. "What if I told you, they are one of the biggest threats to Remnant."

"What do you know?" Raven looked down at the old man.

"Enough to say that this is just lull in the storm. Their attacks were just a test. A test of their own abilities, our strength, and our weaknesses. It doesn't help that you are their main target." Ozpin chuckled as Raven coughed in surprise.

"H-H-How did you know?"

"Come now Miss Branwen, I keep tabs on all of my students, especially your team. You've been working hard to try and wipe out this threat, but you need help. What happened to the Nikos and Arcs households was not your fault, you shouldn't blame yourself."

Raven just blankly stared at the old man. How the hell did he know so much. Ozpin just chuckled, "Raven, for now, I would recommend spending time with friends and family. I know you think you are protecting them, but in reality you are only going to hurt yourself as well as them." Ozpin spoke as if he had years and years of experience in the matter. Raven could only nod. "Well anyway, take this." He tossed her the Rifter towards Raven who caught it deftly and examined the device. "You'll need it more than me. However, I would like to take the gun and see if we can develop any kind of countermeasures for any future Aura Disruptors."

"Raven, I won't tell you to stop your hunt, but please do keep in mind that your actions have consequences for others."

"I know all too well." Raven whispered as she left the Headmaster's office.

* * *

"I don't understand Qrow." Taiyang's anger began to seep in his voice. "How the hell did something like this happen?" He eyed his former teammate while hugging his two girls.

"I don't know." Qrow held up his hands defensively.

"Dad, Qrow saved us." Yang jumped to her uncle's defense, at the request of her mother.

"Yeah, we shouldn't be yelling at each other…" Ruby said, sadness tinged in her voice. Yang was glad that Ruby decided to go with the little charade.

"I guess I should thank you then…." Taiyang said defeatedly.

"This is why you should at least train them." Qrow crossed his arms.

"Absolutely not! Not after Summer…" His voice trailed off.

"You couldn't have done anything about that." Qrow insisted. It was like having the same conversation over and over again.

"I won't." Taiyang said resolutely.

"Please?" Taiyang and Qrow looked at where the plea had originated. "I want to become to learn how to fight for myself. I don't want to be helpless."

"Yang please.."

"You heard her Tai, she wants to learn." Qrow crossed his arms.

"Fine. I'll teach you how to fight, but that's it." Taiyang sighed as he went to the kitchen to make food for everyone.

"Thanks kiddo." He gave Yang a high five.

"Thanks Uncle Qrow."

 **A/N**

 **HI GUYS!**

 **Lots of things! First off, I hope you guys enjoyed the story! As always feel free to leave reviews, likes, pms, all that good stuff. We love to hear what you guys have to say no matter what. So this concludes the first story arc for Shattered Past.**

 **Shaded: Atlas thinks outside of the boss… that's what that originally said.**

 **Sauron: I SAID NOT TO BRING IT UP!**

 **Shaded: You make the assumption that I care.**

 **Sauron: Yeah you right.**

 **So, there will be a new story project thingy that is going to be released shortly. It will take place in the same Shattered Past Universe. I would also like to mention here that the Shattered Team (if you can call it that… idk) with our newest member, Dantai! WOOOOOO!**

 **Dantai: what did i do?**

 **Sauron: Sell your soul.**

 **Dantai: I have like .0000000000001% of my soul left did I really just sell away?**

 **Shaded: … I have even edited the AN**

 **Sauron: I swear I'm goin' to hit my head with a cactus. I'm out.**


	14. Chapter 14: Calm Before the Storm

_**Chapter 14: Calm Before the Storm**_

 _ **4 YEARS LATER:**_

Four years, a lot of things can happen in four years. For the Xiao Longs and Rose, everything had settled down quite a bit. The family was enjoying a barbecue with Qrow, in the backyard. After a long week, they had some time to finally kick back and enjoy the nice weather.

"So I hear that there are two teaching spots at Signal Academy." Qrow said lifting up his monstrous burger filled with cheese, bacon and extra grease, taking a massive bite with grease oozing out of the corner of his lips.

"Ahh that would be soo cool! You and Dad could give me A's." Yang grinned as she smashed her fist down on the table almost knocking over her food. It took a lot of convincing, but she, with a lot of help from Ruby and Qrow, were able to convince her father to let her go to Signal and take the first steps towards becoming a huntress. She felt more then ready since her dad taught her how to fight and even unlocked her Aura for her.

"Wait, you can do that?" Ruby looked at the three with surprise.

"No…. I don't think that's how it works…" Tai chuckled. "No, you would have to earn your grades fair and square, but I just really don't see myself as a teacher though."

"Well you come from one of Beacon's most decorated Teams, you went on countless missions, and you have a badass partner teacher." Qrow counted the reasons off on his hand.

"Language." Tai growled. Qrow held his hands up defensively. "Anyway…. I'm not a fan of the paperwork… and there are sooooo many rules." Tai rolled his eyes.

"It's a combat school… Do you think there'll be that many grading papers? Besides, you get to see Yang everyday."

"Yeah Daddy! Don't you wanna see me every day?" She gave her puppy dog eyes. Tai was starting to sweat from the pressure.

"I do…. But paperwork…." Tai moaned as he put down his milkshake. He couldn't take it, checkmate. "Alright fine. I'll apply for a spot, they probably won't accept me, I don't have any teaching experiences." He also prayed they wouldn't accept him.

Qrow gave a devilish grin. "Oh I wouldn't say that." He went back to his burger.

"Yay! Dad is going to be a teacher!" Ruby exclaimed with a mouthful of chocolate chip cookies.

"Easy A's for the win." Yang grinned at her little sister.

"I'll give you an 'A' if you get me a milkshake." Qrow grinned. Yang darted out of her seat as if on fire and gave Qrow the biggest vanilla milkshake he had ever had. "Yep that's an 'A' for you." Qrow said as he started to slurp.

Taiyang just facepalmed. "You and milkshakes... WAIT! NO! THAT ISN'T AN 'A!' YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" He

Qrow chuckled and gave his niece a high five.

* * *

 ***RING RING*** Jaune slammed his head down on the desk which earned the laughter of Pyrrha. "How are you going to pass the history final if you can't stay awake."

"Pshht." Jaune waved his hand. "I don't need to study, it's all multiple choice." Pyrrha just shook her head. "Alright, well I'll see you at lunch?" Jaune asked as he packed his books. Pyrrha nodded as she did the same. They left to head to their different classes.

For Jaune, life had changed quite a bit. As he continued through school, he became more sociable, until this year, he finally turned into class clown goofball he was meant to be. He went out of his way to make others feel welcomed. He did have a close group of friends consisting of Carl, Sierra, and Pyrrha. He felt the most comfortable around the three, obviously Pyrrha being the closest of the three, he was surprised at how the two could basically read each other's minds sometimes, it was really freaky at times, but he wouldn't have it any other way.

Pyrrha was content with her life. She would be lying if she wasn't grateful towards the Arcs. As time went on, they began to accept her as one of their own, even the young Arc, Abella, accepted her with open arms now, which she was internally grateful for. However, she still felt out of place. She still felt like a guest, not a member of the family despite their best efforts. She was a quiet and shy one when it came towards people. She didn't go out of her way to make friends, she was perfectly fine with her current friends, but she would turn away new friendships. Even amongst her close group of friends of Carl, Sierra, and Jaune, she was more content with being the quiet one. Even still, she felt like she could come out of her shell when she was with Jaune, he encouraged it and she appreciated it. She gotten to know Jaune very well to the point that she knows how he would react to almost any kind of situation, she knew his thoughts, just as well Jaune knew her's. However, she did keep personal problems to herself unless openly confronted by anyone, which thankfully hasn't happened yet.

 ***RING RING*** Pyrrha finished copying her notes on the board and packed her books. She made her to the cafeteria where she got her tray of food. She went over to her usual table.

"Sup Pyrrha?!" Carl waved at her over.

"Hey Pyr." Sierra greeted.

"Hello guys." She responded her polite quiet self.

"So there I was dribbling the ball, and it the flipping nitwit fouled me by slamming me into the ground, and the teacher didn't even call him out on it!" Carl deadpanned.

"Wow, that's kinda stupid…" Sierra chuckled. Pyrrha nodded in agreement.

"What's up guys?" Jaune sat down beside Sierra and infront of Pyrrha.

"Hello." Pyrrha greeted with her usual smile.

"How is everyone?" Jaune asked.

"Bitchy but good." Carl grinned.

"Language." Sierra reprimanded. "Anyway…. Pretty good. How about yourself?"

"Ahhh just woke up from a wonderful nap in geology." Jaune yawned.

"That's probably why you have a C in the class." Pyrrha chimed in which made everyone chuckle. They finished their lunch relative comfort chatting about their days and an event which Jaune dropped a rock on his lab partner's foot.

* * *

The rest of the day went of without a hitch. Jaune opened the door, holding it open for Pyrrha who gave a small smile in gratitude. They took of their shoes and left them by the door.

Abella was out watching her favorite after school cartoon. While Mabel and Catoline were busy studying an upcoming test. Crystal was hard at work preparing dinner.

"Hey guys!" Crystal shouted from the kitchen.

"Hey Crystal." Jaune said as he stumbled into the living room sacking out on the couch.

"Hello!" Pyrrha greeted back as she plopped herself on the floor joining Abella.

"Ughhh do we have to watch this crap?" Jaune whined.

A simultaneous yes greeted Jaune as he flinched away from two pillows thrown at him. "I'll shut up now." He mumbled.

"Good choice." Pyrrha smirked. Which earned a giggle from Abella.

 ***Knock Knock.*** Pyrrha got up. As she said she would get it. She opened the door to be greeted by a familiar woman, Raven.

"Hey there Pyrrha." The huntress smiled

"Come in Raven." Pyrrha held the door open.

"Raven what did I tell you?! You don't have to knock, just come in." Crystal shouted from the kitchen.

"Old habits die hard." She countered.

Raven placed Crimson Wing by the door then made her way to a pitiful site of Jaune covered in pillows. A sapphire eye blinked. "Tried to persuade them not to watch cartoons." He said muffled

"I see..." Raven muttered with a slight smile. "Well anyway, Joan said she would be late, apparently a bad storm was in the area and evac would be delayed. John is monitoring the situation at the dispatch center. So I've been asked to watch over you little headaches." She faked a pained sigh.

"Bah you know you love us." Abella countered, eyes never leaving the t.v. That wasn't wrong Raven thought to herself. They did treat her as one of their own as she treat them the same way. It was an odd relationship, she was basically a member of their family, yet she couldn't be apart of her own, at least not yet.

"I suppose..." She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly with a smile. "Pyrrha, Jaune, Training?"

Pyrrha eagerly nodded and went to her room to grab her weapons while Jaune groaned.

"Get up lazy bum." Mabel threw her textbook at him. Jaune quickly got up.

"Hey you could have poked my eye out!" He said flabbergasted.

"With a textbook? Unlikely. Crack your head open sure, sure, but not poke an eye out." Mabel stated as a matter of fact.

"Whatever." Jaune brushed her off and reached for Crocea Mors and strapped it around his belt as Raven strapped Crimson wing around her waist. Pyrrha emerged holding Akouo and Milo. "Everyone ready?" Jaune and Pyrrha nodded.

"Crystal we will be back in time supper. If you need anything, you have my scroll number." The older brunette nodded in appreciation

"You three have fun now."

* * *

They say that practice makes perfect. That was the case for Jaune and Pyrrha, although Pyrrha was more skilled with her weapons, Jaune had a large amount of Aura that he was able to draw on, although his swordsmanship wasn't bad either. The two combined were a formidable opponents, but still not for huntress at Beacon in her class.

Raven dashed through the forests darting in between trees. Pyrrha tried to scope her down with her rifle.

 ***BANG* *BANG***

Trees around Raven splintered as dust round missed their target.

 ***BANG* *BANG* *BANG*** More shots rang out as more trees exploded. Pyrrha quickly mechaformed Milo into her spear form and ran to chase after Raven. So far the plan had been working. Pyrrha started to full out sprint hoping to catch up with her.

Jaune was waiting, he could hear the shots rang out. He ran so far out, there was no way for Raven to know that he was lying in wait for her. He gripped Crocea Mors and braced himself as he heard feet full out sprinting.

He lept out to find a Raven running, He charged her, his shield raised, sword in the air, smile on his face. She didn't have enough time to change directions and her sword was still sheathed. She could only smirk at his naive attempt at scoring a hit.

A downward slash from Crocea Mors missed as she rolled into the swing, something that Jaune did not take into consideration. He blinked momentarily confused. He turned around to find a Raven in full combat stance, Crimson Wing drawn with a blue dust blade. "Crap." Jaune muttered to himself.

Raven dashed forward with lightning speed. She swung her blade in a downward slash which met with Jaune's shield. The dust blade shattered, causing Jaune to smile. However he noticed that all of the shards from the blade formed nasty shards of razor sharp ice. He tucked into his shield to avoid the flying ice spears. Raven quickly sheathed her handle and drew out a new blue blade. By then Pyrrha had caught up and was beside Jaune. Shields together, they launched themselves toward Raven, sword and spear aimed at the huntress.

Raven, with a quick flick flick of the wrist, snapped off her blade and flung it at the two. It collided with the miniature shield wall with such force that it sent the two flying back with excessive ice shards everywhere.

Pyrrha was the first to recover and and launched herself forward. Raven had no time to rearm. Pyrrha launched a furious barrage of jabs with her spear. The black haired huntress nimbly dodged the stabs and jabs while occasional back stepping to avoid a shield bash. All while doing this, she left her right foot exposed.

Pyrrha saw this and took advantage of the tell and jabbed towards Raven's exposed and unprotected right foot. Raven smiled that was the quick second she needed.

Pyrrha blinked when she found Raven's foot was not in line with her spear. Instead she found a Raven side stepping Pyrrha's lunge, bring down her sheath down on her exposed back, which sent her tumbling to the ground. She quickly sheathed her hilt and drew out a red dust blade. She quickly pointed at the redhead's throat while she was still recovering.

"I yield.." Pyrrha muttered sadly. Raven then dashed off to find a helpless Jaune. After a few short swings and slashes, Jaune sluggishly tried to block the swings until his sword arm, legs, and back were met with a burning hot red dust blade. He quickly fell.

"I give." He muttered. Raven smirked and gave him a hand up. By then Pyrrha found the two.

"You guys did well today. You were able to work together." She looked towards Pyrrha. "However, don't get overconfident when you think you can see a weakness, it could always be a trap. More importantly, don't leave a fellow teammate behind." Pyrrha understandingly nodded and gave Jaune an apologetic look. "And Jaune, you need to be quicker on your feet. Speed is a good offensive tool as well as defensive."

"That'll be enough for today." Raven put down her Crimson Wing. .

"Aura?" Raven suggested to which Pyrrha and Jaune agreed. "Alright then." She sat herself down cross legged. With Pyrrha and Jaune doing the same thing. "Close your eyes." They both compiled as usual.

"Now clear your mind all of thoughts, of all distractions." Raven almost hummed. After few minutes she continued. "Now reach deep down. Call forth your Aura. Call forth who you are as an individual." She looked at the two. Pyrrha glowing a dark gray while Jaune glowed a bright white, their breathing slowed.

"Good... Good. Now focus. Now channel your Aura into one focal point and tap into that focal point." Just like that Pyrrha began pulsating, metal objects began glow with black glow and began to levitate, interesting, raven thought to herself.

Jaune continued to glow but nothing happened.

Pyrrha's s snapped opened. "I got it." She said as she lifted up her hand was glowing she was lifting up any kind of metal object. Raven had to hold on to Crimson Wing lest it end up like Crocea Mors, Milo, and Akouo , all of which were floating in the air. Jaune opened his eyes watching the scene, as he lost focus and stopped glowing in Aura.

"Pyrrha!" Raven exclaimed proudly. "You can stop at any time."

"Sorry!" She apologized as she lowered her arms and lost focus, the weapons falling to the ground with a loud thud. "Sorry." She cringed at the thud.

"God job Pyrrha!" Raven patted on the back. "From what I can tell, I think your semblance is Polarity. I think you can control magnetism of metal objects." Pyrrha beamed at the thought.

It all made sense now, she felt a connection to Milo and Akouo because they were metal, the strange vibes they gave off was just her magnetism. That bully's teeth were ripped out because of the metal braces. She was able to kill that Grimm long ago because of the metal spike. It all clicked now. "Overtime, you will be able to use your semblance as if it was second nature to you."

Jaune looked away, hiding his disappointment. He should have felt happy for his friend, but he also felt a little bit jealous. "Jaune, one of these days, you'll discover your semblance. Just give it more time." Raven offered a smile optimistically.

He just nodded somberly as he picked up Crocea Mors. Pyrrha watched, feeling a pang of regret and sadness. She could tell that he was not happy. Raven sensed the tension and decided to call it a day. The three of them gathered their belongings. She lead the way, pretending not to hear any of the conversation.

"Jaune…" Pyrrha looked down at her feet. "What's wrong..?"

"Nothing." He muttered.

"You know that I can tell when you're lying." She said simply. "You can tell me anything." And usually that was the case, he did tell her everything, accept now.

"I said I'm fine." He stated coldly, averting her gaze.

"Jaune…" She pushed.

"You know you are extremely persistent. I said I am fine. Do I need to spell it out for you? Sheesh take a hint..." His tone was more than just demeaning, downright hurtful. An ordinary person would think nothing of it, but Jaune never spoke to Pyrrha that way.

Pyrrha didn't say anything, she kept on moving, eyes front, following Raven. Raven raised an eyebrow at the Arc's outburst. It was the first time that she had heard him outburst like that, it stung. However, she acted like she didn't hear it.

They reached the house and were blasted with the aroma of delicious food. "I saved you three some leftovers." Crystal smiled as she cleaned the plates from the sink.

"I'm not hungry" Jaune as he went past all of them and headed upstairs. The three left in the kitchen look at each other.

"He feels inadequate compared to Pyrrha's progress." Raven sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration.

"Maybe I should talk to him?" Pyrrha suggested, rubbing her arm nervously. "I should apologize."

"You have nothing to apologize for. I offered to train the both of you, people learn at different paces."

"Raven is right." Crystal chimed in. "I think talking to him now would only make things worse."

Pyrrha gave a saddened expression as she went to her own room. Raven went over to the sink to help Crystal when a knock was heard coming from the front door. She reached for Crimson Wing when she opened the door. She didn't expect to see Qrow in his teaching attire of a messy collared shirt with wrinkled up pants and a very crooked tie.

"Qrow?" She asked in surprise.

"Raven you need to see Ozpin now. I got an encrypted message that said he needed to talk to you as soon as possible." She could tell this was no joke when it came to Ozpin and encrypted messages. She nodded.

"Crystal, I need to attend to some business, Qrow is going to be here until your father comes home." She said as she grabbed her odachi.

"Not that clown. All he does is just make a mess in the kitchen."

"It's not my fault you guys hide all of the good stuff." Qrow raised his hands defensively.

"We hide it from you." Crystal shot back which earned a chuckle from Qrow and smirk from Raven. Raven left the house, with a small smile on her face. With her odachi, she unsheathed the sword, with her destination in clear in mind, she made a quick and clean slash as a portal black and red portal opened up.

* * *

Jaune was rather angry at himself. He knew he shouldn't have lost his cool like that. He was just so frustrated with the lack of progress his training was taking. At this rate, he wouldn't be able to live up to his father's skill as hunter or his grandfather.

For a split second, he thought that Pyrrha was doing a better job at living up to the Arc legacy than he ever could, and that made him seething with anger. A complete stranger was a better Arc than he could ever be. He knew not to believe those thoughts, Pyrrha was apart of the family, let alone his closest friend. Why should he think ill of her? Yet this wasn't the only time he had these thoughts. These thoughts came up frequently in their training, as she always managed to beat him.

The frustration was getting more than he could take anymore. He growled as he fumbled with a book he was trying to read. He wanted to distract himself but found no way to do so. He flopped on his bed.

A gentle rasping on the door made him stir out of his thoughts. "Yeah?" He sat up.

"May I come in…?" A saddened Pyrrha asked from the door.

"Yeah." He said neutrally.

The door slowly opened to show a nervous and fidgeting Pyrrha clearly frowning. "Jaune… I…" She looked intently at the floor. "I didn't mean to make you angry. I just wanted…. To apologize... I'm sorry." She let out a long breath. "I don't want you to be mad at me."

Jaune looked at her for a few moments without any clue to his emotions. He sat up from his bed noticing how uncomfortable she was, constantly fidgeting and shifting "No, just stop." He said making the redhead flinch, that stung him. "I should be apologizing to you. I… I… don't know. I lost my cool and I snapped. I shouldn't have done that." She looked at him. "I can never be upset with you."

"So if you don't mind me asking…. Why were you upset?" She asked, still clearly uncomfortable.

"I… don't know… I was just angry and jealous over everything, and that wasn't fair to you." Jaune admitted shamefully.

"Oh." Pyrrha looked down. "I'm sorry." She said meekly.

"No, listen. I shouldn't have done that, you shouldn't be sorry. You're my closest friend. I don't know what I would do without you." He gave her a supportive smile and hand on the shoulder. She looked at him with a smile. All was forgiven, even though there was nothing to forgive between the two of them.

"I don't know about you, but I'm hungry and I didn't eat, wanna get some food?"

Pyrrha nodded with smile as the two headed downstairs, to the sounds of a lot yelling and cupboards being slammed. "QRRRROOWWWW!"

"What? I'm hungry and Signal got shit food." Qrow protested as he continued to ruin the recently cleaned kitchen.

"LANGUAGE!"

Pyrrha and Jaune looked at each other and broke out in laughter.

* * *

Ozpin noticed the portal open up in the middle of his office. He smirked guessing who it could only be. Out stepped the tall black haired, crimson eyed huntress. "Professor Ozpin." She nodded her head, greeting him.

"How good to see you Miss Branwen." He noticed no reaction from that, except for a frown. A pity. "Unfortunately, I wish this was under better circumstances."

"Knowing you, to send an encrypted message, this has to be serious." She concluded.

"Indeed." Ozpin's eyes had bags underneath them, his voice sounded tired. "I believe the Legion of Ash is planning something big."

"How do you know?" Her curiosity peaked.

"Beacon has been infiltrated." Ozpin said somberly.

"Infiltrated. What do you mean?"

He tapped his scroll and laid it on the table. A holo projection emerged. It was security footage of the headmaster's office. It showed an empty office. "I'm sorry, I'm not following…" She watched the old man. He gave weary smile and tapped his scroll again.

"I believe the Legion has access to cloaking technology." Now the image showed four thermal images of human bodies three keeping watching while one was at the computer terminal. "They hacked the school system through my terminal." For once, Ozpin sounded angry. "We scanned the system several dozen times and came up with the same result, there was no proof tampering."

"If they hacked the school system…"

"They access to everything on Beacon. All of the hunters, programs, missions, students, current and former, they also have a way into the Council's system." Ozpin finished her off with a serious expression.

"So what do you want me to do about it?" Raven asked crossing her arms.

"You're the closest thing to an expert we have on these people. We need you to find out what they did. This make get us one step ahead of them."

"Do we have any leads?" Raven asked.

"We have one. We have a member of the Legion in custody." Ozpin smiled.

"What?! Since when? Why haven't you interrogated him?" Raven was surprised at the news to say the least. Legion members weren't known for being taken prisoners.

"We raided a suspected White Fang base within downtown Vale, apparently it was a front for a Legion cell. Glynda was able to immobilize him." His expression darkened. "We tried to interrogate him, but our methods are ineffective…. I believe that you know of ways to make him talk." Ozpin frowned and let out a sad sigh. "I know I'm asking a lot of you Raven. You've probably had enough of this kind of work. Please feel free to say no, I don't want you to give up your humanity."

"I'll do it." She said simply, neutrally, looking at Ozpin with no emotion. This wasn't the first time she had gotten her hands dirty, nor would it be the last. She built up a tolerance to the line of work. She was glad that no one had to see her do so though.

"Are you sure?" He asked, almost pleaded. He felt sick to his stomach making one of his best students, most beloved student having to do such a grisly and dark task. He prayed that Raven would back out, to not given in. It didn't matter what her reason was, that kind of work corrupts an individual.

She nodded her hand. Ozpin shook his head, clearly distressed by her decision. He tapped his scroll. "We're coming down."

 **A/N**

 **Hey guys! NEW CHAPTER!**

 **A little bit on the lighter side…. Cause next chapter….. Heh… going to get a little bit dark…. Actually really dark….**

 **That being said… I putting a promo #noshame in here. I just recently published a new story, STRQ reality, which takes place in the same Shattered universe (if you can call it that…) It'll focused around Team STRQ as well JJWS (Team Jaws) which is John and Joan team. Head's up: You don't need STRQ Reality for Forgotten Memories or vice versa (I'm just really enjoying writing Qrow and Raven right now… at least my interpretation with them.)**

 **Anyway if you enjoyed the chapter leave a like, follow, pm, review. All that stuff is great! We love to hear from you!**


	15. Chapter 15: Brutality of Force

**Chapter 15: Brutality of Force**

 **A/N: I just wanted to give you guys a heads up, there is a torture scene here….**

Raven was tense. She didn't enjoy this kind of work, but it was necessary, she kept telling herself. Her arms crossed, she was deep in thought as she and Ozpin rode down the elevator.

"Where are we going?" Raven asked noting how the elevator should have stopped by now.

"Down into the Vaults underneath Beacon." Ozpin replied darkly. "This is where we keep our more sensitive material."

"Like prisoners." Raven noted.

"Like prisoners." Ozpin agreed.

The elevator stopped, the doors opened up to reveal a large massive vault with massive arches. The only light sources were fire lamps suspended along large columns. In the middle stood Professor Goodwitch with a figure hooded tied up to a chair, and a table.

Glynda nodded to Raven and Ozpin as they returned the gesture. "So this is our prisoner?" Raven said assuming her professional, cold self again. She grabbed the hood and ripped it off to see a man staring right back her.

"Raven Branwen." The man said neutrally.

"You know of me?" She raised an eyebrow.

"All of the Legion does. You have been a thorn in our side since you were in Beacon."

"Then you know my reputation." Raven walked over to a small table beside the figure. She opened up a small pouch and laid it on the table. Her hands reached for something when she removed her hand, she was brandishing a scalpel. Glynda looked at Ozpin unsurely, Ozpin could only nod stoically. This had to be done.

He snorted. "You think I'm afraid of torture? Death? In the end we'll win and will purge your kind from existence." Raven whirled around and backhanded him sending him and his chair sprawling to the ground.

"You fanatics don't know when to keep your mouth shut," she spat.

The man grunted as he impacted the ground. "Now lets try this again." Raven stood over the man holding the scalpel to eye. "I talk, you answer the questions. Do you understand?"

The man spat in her face which made her smirk. "We're going to have fun." In reality, none of this was fun for her. She had to do it though if it meant stopping Legion, protecting her family, her Yang.

She slashed at the man eye with the scalpel where he let out horrible cry of pain as the razor sharp object rended the soft eye tissue, blood pouring out. Ozpin and Glynda were horrified to see one of their most promising students becoming a grisly killer. The screams continued for a long while as Raven watched impassively. She waited patiently until screams died down.

"What are your plans?" Raven asked cooly.

"I'm not talking..." He said, blood dripping out of his eye.

Without saying a word, Raven took the scalpel and started to dig into the eye socket, ripping out the sliced open eye.

Ozpin looked away while Glynda held her hand to her mouth in shock. The man continued to scream in agony as Raven held the before him with a grin. She felt disgusted on the inside. ' _This for everyone I care about.'_ She kept telling herself.

"I don't think you'll be needing this." She tossed the eye away. She could feel stares of Glynda and Ozpin, their horror of her. ' _Tune them out, You've done this before. You can do it again.'_

"You... Sadistic... Bitch..." He panted.

"This can all end, just tell me what I want to know." She said gently.

"Fuck you."

She ripped open his shirt to reveal different scars along his body. She smiled as she started to carve along the old scars, opening up old wounds. Blood seeping through the dozens of now reopened scars. "Tell me." She said coldly as she watched dozens of reopened wounds oozing blood.

"Never!"

Raven shook her hand as she took the scalpel and started to remove finger nails. The man continued to howl. "You can make it stop." She insisted. ' _What would Yang think of me if she saw me right now? Qrow? John? Joan? Pyrrrha? Jaune?'_ She wanted to throw up. No she couldn't think about them now.

. "Raven that is enough." Ozpin glared at her former student. "I did not teach my students to become torturers, let alone to get a thrill of it." Raven stormed over to her former headmaster.

"Do not think for one bit I enjoy this." She chided the older huntsmen. "You know what you were getting when you asked me to help. "

"This is completely unacceptable, even though he is still an enemy, he is still a human being." Glynda shook her head.

"He and his kind want to see the world burn, to see our families destroyed." She said pointedly. "and I will not allow that, and I will eliminate that threat."

"Well it seems that this approach isn't working." Ozpin noted.

"You're right, that's why I'm going to try stage two." Raven grabbed the sheath of her odachi.

"You have stages?" Glynda asked dumbfounded as she watched her former student remove to large vials of dust, one consisting of red dust, the other blue.

"Like I said, I've done this a great many times. I have a system." Raven replied simply, Ozpin frowned.

"I would hate to see what stage three is…" Glynda muttered

"Time to get back at it." Raven ignored the comment, hopefully she wouldn't need to go to stage three. She watched as the one eye followed her. She knew that look all too well. That look of hate, of fear.

"Last chance to talk before we have some real fun." Raven put the vial of blue dust down.

"I won't betray the Legion." The man said stoically. Raven sighed, she hoped he was done with it all.

Raven, with her free hand, forced the man's jaw open with with an iron grip. With her other hand, she poured a calculated minute amount of the fiery red dust down his throat.

He screamed as he could feel the burst slowly burning as it slid down his throat. His stomach felt like it was a pool of molten lava, his veins like hot glass. His bones like molten metal. He could feel all of his body being literally burned from the inside out.

"I can make it stop, just tell me what I want to know."

"Fuckk... You..." He cried out.

"Wrong answer." She poured more dust down his throat. He continued to cry out as more of the volatile dust continued to burn and melt his insides. His pulse began to skyrocket as the volatile substance made its way into bloodstream affecting every single nerve in his body.

Ten minutes filled with bloody screaming mixed in curses and pleads continue to go by as Raven just watched.

"You're going to kill him." Glynda protested.

"Then he dies by one of most. painful ways ever imaginable."

"But..." Ozpin placed a hand on Glynda's shoulder. They had to do this. They had to trust Raven.

"Fine... I'll ... tell you... Please..." Raven immediately yanked his jaw open poured down the blue dust.

The man felt the blue dust counteract the the burning red dust. He felt the fire from within slowly fade away as the blue dust begin to enter his body.

"Talk or we repeat the whole thing." Raven said with sadistic cheer.

"I don't know what that cell was doing..." Raven started to move forward. "WAIT!" He pleaded. "The Legion compartmentalize the missions, that no cell can leak information on a other one."

"So what you're saying is that you are useless to me." Raven growled.

"Nononono! I know the guy in the Beacon Cell. We are good buddies! I can give you his location!"

"Tell us."

"He operates in the lower districts of Vale. I don't know what the legion plan for the schools are, but it can't be good."

"So how can we find him." The black haired woman pushed him.

"He operates in the lower docks. He's been smuggling recruits in for the last couple of months. They're all dressed up as Valesian soldiers, even though the army is no where near there. He wears an officer's uniform with a white cap. His name Braddick Hood, now please let me go..." He pleaded.

"Thank you for your cooperation. You'll be handed over to the Valesian courts to..." Ozpin didn't have enough time to finish his sentence as Raven quickly beheaded the man with one fluent slash

She gave a quick flick of the wrist to cast the blood off, she then turned around to face them with a neutral face.

"What the hell was that?!" Glynda screeched.

"I removed a potential threat." Raven responded calmly.

"He was going to be transferred to an ultra high max facility." Ozpin said slowly.

"Indeed, but what would have happened if the Legion was able to get their hands on him. He knows about you two, about me. My family." She said coldly. "The more we kill them the better. These people can't be treated like regular people." She sheathed her sword. "You wanted your expert, well now you have one." Raven unsheathed another dust blade and opened up another portal and stepped through.

"I hope we haven't taken her humanity away." Ozpin whispered.

* * *

The night was dark, the moon Almost being swallowed up by the pitch blackness. Around an altar was several robed and hooded figures chanting in a strange foreign language.

She walked closer to them, almost tripping on unseen roots and logs. She could make out a figure on the altar. A familiar woman by the looks of it. She wore black and red armor, but she couldn't make out who it was with the nevermore mask hiding her identity. The hooded figure turned around to look directly at her. Its blackened nevermore mask more terrifying than the others

She could feel cold, very inhuman eyes staring right back at her. As suddenly as they turned their attention on her, they swiveled back into place, putting all of their attention and focus on the altar. The blackened nevermore figure raised a wicked looking serrated dagger over his head as the crescendo of chanting reached its climax. The dagger was brought down on the woman cutting a nasty wound as she was held down.

A blood curdling scream rang out. The figure pulled a beating heart as the screamed died out. "Come here." Its voice boomed. She started to turn around, to flee the terrible scene, but she couldn't move.

She felt as if she was frozen. She could feel herself start to move towards the hooded beings. The one with the blackened nevermore mask started to pace around her. "You wrought this on yourself." It declared as it pulled off the mask of the sacrificed woman on the altar. It revealed an all too familiar face. Raven.

She tried to scream, to mourn, to do something but she couldn't, her body ignored all commands. "You did this the figure said as it ripped off the mask to reveal very familiar emerald eyes looking back herself, as if staring into a mirror. "You killed her, you're the one that turned her into a monster." It said as it brandished the knife and sliced at her abdomen.

She could feel a hand reach rip out her beating heart. She felt the world fade into black.

Pyrrha's eyes darted awake. She found herself awake from another nightmare. She looked out the window, still dark out, she thought to herself.

This nightmare was particularly brutal, especially in regard to Raven. Seeing her being sliced open like that... She couldn't get that image out of head. She couldn't make the screaming get out of her head.

She shook her head to empty her mind to no avail. It was all ingrained into her. Seeing her mentor, almost mother figure taken away, so helpless was just too painful that it made her sick to her stomach.

She quickly dashed to the bathroom and straight towards the toilet. She emptied her stomach's content for several minutes.

"Pyrrha...?" A familiar voice called out. She couldn't tell who it was. She felt hands holds her hands "Pyrrha what's wrong?! Talk to me." She couldn't look.

After a few moments of dry heaving, she wiped her mouth to see a concerned Jaune holding up her hair, kneeling beside her.

"Should I get someone? I can see if dad is home, or Qrow?" He asked worriedly.

"NO!" She said a little too soon, making Jaune recoiled slightly. "Sorry, it was just really bad dream..." She said meekly as she recoiled from the toilet, holding her knees up to her chest. She buried her head so she wouldn't have to see the worried the Jaune.

He gently rubbed her back, trying to make her feel better. "Do you get them often?" He asked.

No response.

"I take it often then….." Jaune muttered to himself. "When did they start?" He asked again.

No response.

"Pyrrha, come on, you can tell me..." He reassured her.

"I don't want you to think anything," She whispered.

"I won't, I promise." Jaune put an arm around her.

"As long as I can remember." She let out a long sigh.

"And you didn't tell me?" Jaune asked, she recoiled slightly.

"Sorry I mean, You know you can tell me anything." He said gently patting her back. She could only give small nod. The realization just hit Jaune in the head like a flying baseball. Pyrrha seemed like a nice quiet girl who didn't want to cause any problems. She was always willing to lend a helping hand to anyone in need, especially with Jaune and his family. Yet while she was so giving and caring towards others, she carried a much more heavier, darker burden then he could ever imagine. Something that made Pyrrha react this violently had to be extremely serious.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up." Her muffled voice barely audible.

"Bah, don't worry about it, sleeping is overrated," Jaune joked. She looked up, tear streaks running down her cheeks.

"Everything is going to be fine. Nothing bad is going to happen." He rubbed her back reassuringly.

"You don't know that though." Her voice was so quiet. "It was so bad. Why can't I just be normal? Instead, I'm so… I don't know…. so screwed up."

Jaune was about to say something when someone else spoke up.

"Pyrrha when I found you, you were a scared and lonely little girl. I mean heck….. you were shot." They both looked over to see John who was still wearing his hunter dispatch uniform. "Yet here you are, for the most part living a normal life with a family that cares about you. Not to mention you are planning on dedicating your life to helping others, that isn't being screwed up." John said as he watched his two children come together.

Pyrrha gave a slight smile.

"Now let's get some breakfast." John suggested.

"Feeling any better?" Jaune asked as he helped her up.

"A little bit," Pyrrha said quietly with a slight smile.

From that moment on, Jaune promised himself one thing. He promised that he would help Pyrrha overcome her personal demons, no matter what the cost.

* * *

Raven had kept watch on the docks for several hours. The compound was surrounded with a barbed wire fence with several heavily armed guards and even an armored personnel carrier (APC)

Raven, perched on her tree had a perfect vantage points and the guards wouldn't suspect anything from a little back bird.

 _'Military grade weapons and vehicles for an abandoned dock...'_ She thought to herself as she stretched her wings and took flight. The guards seem to have one objective, protect an old abandoned warehouse. Several heavy military grade vehicles were parked right outside soldiers going in and out. She flew over a particular segment of the building and perched herself along an open window that led into the warehouse.

There she saw a large gathering of men some of them were running in a makeshift obstacle course. Others were eating in a makeshift mess hall. All of them were in the standard Valesian green camo uniform. However she did see one with stars on the shoulder as well as wearing a white cap.

He climbed a staircase to what looked like an office. Raven noted how there was no ceiling for the office, just upper support beams, easy for a bird to get through. .

She perched herself above him, looking down at the office. The man looked up quizzically at the bird and paid it no mind. "Stupid bird." He muttered as he sat back down and resumed his paper work.

The raven dropped to the ground assuming a more frightful form of a tall woman wearing a blood stained nevermore mask, long dust blade drawn.

She brought it to rest on the man's neck. "Don't even." She warned.

"I knew I should have killed that damn bird." Hood mumbled.

"What are your plans? Why did you infiltrate Beacon?" Raven ignored his comment.

"We are going to show the world how truly corrupt the kingdoms are. We are going to expose you and your kinds sins to the world!" He preached with conviction.

"How."

"You'll find out when the world does. That is, if you make it out of here alive." He grinned at his masked captor. "We'll purge your kind from Remnant. Starting with you." He gave a sly smile as he reached towards his pocket, but by then Raven removed his head stopping any other movement. She ripped open his camo uniform to reveal highly volatile dust bombs sown into a vest. Several lights were blinking, a timer started to tick down. 1:00 minute ticked down. _'Shit shit shit.'_ Her mind started to panick. _'Think. I need to find something. ANYTHING.'_

50 seconds.

She started to rummage through the desk. All she could see were logistical papers. 'Useful but now what I need'. She ripped one of them out to take.

40 seconds. She rummaged through the drawers. Nothing.

30 seconds. _'Fuck.'_

She looked around to see a safe sitting in the corner of the office behind the desk. She sheathed her odachi and pulled out a fresh red dust blade. With a precise slash she opened the the door of the safe.

20seconds left. She rummaged through the safe to find 20,000 Lien, a note with a language she couldn't discern, and a Rifter just like her own on the hilt of her blade.

10 seconds. She took all of them and opened up a portal to outside of the compound. She stepped through

with three seconds to spare.

Once through the portal, she closed it down and looked at the compound to see to see the whole warehouse be consumed in a massive explosion. Sirens were wailing, men were running frantically, others screamed from shrapnel wounds. Military vehicles began to be deployed to help with the fire.

She took her odachi and created a portal towards beacon and stepped through.

* * *

The night was late, Ozpin had just finished submitting his report to the Valesian Council. Glynda looked at him worriedly. "You're still in shock of what happened today."

Ozpin calmly took a sip of his mug when he noticed his hands were trembling. "I am, I feel as if we have put Raven down a darker path."

"We already know she was hunting the Legion, what makes this different."

"Did you see how she killed in cold blood without a second thought. I fear we are only encouraging it, reinforcing it."

"Ozpin, I've been like this for a long time, ever since you met me." Raven spoke up, sheathing Crimson Wing, closing the portal. "Have you ever thought that I actually want to hunt down these lunatics. They've caused me and my family no end of problems."

"You weren't always this detached." Ozpin reminded her. "You're time in Beacon has shown us that. Now you are reuniting with friends and family. Don't take one step forward only to take two steps back."

"I was able to get this." She handed him the letter in a strange language.

"Interesting." Ozpin took the paper realizing that the hunteress wanted to switch topics.

"Any idea what it says?" Raven looked at the headmaster quizzically.

"Unfortunately I do not. This will take time to decipher it."

Raven nodded taking her leave. She unsheathed her sword, opened a portal and left the two professors behind.

"Glynda we need to get to work. Get Dr. Oobleck here." His assistant nodded as the two began researching the mysterious language.

* * *

Raven returned to the cave that she had called home for half of her childhood and in more recent years. Although she wouldn't call it a cave at this point with all of the furnishings. She stared a warm fire at the entrance of the cave.

She wandered over to her bed, and sat down on it looking at the pictures on her night stand. Three pictures were there. One of her former team, all in their youth, all of them happy, even Raven. _'It's not the same without you Summer.'_ She thought.

Her eyes moved to the picture of her family, herself holding a small blonde bundle while Taiyang arm wrapped around her waist.

Finally her eyes moved towards the last picture a family picture of the Arcs with, by the insistence of each Arc, Qrow and Raven in it.

Is all of the killing, all of the isolation worth it? Then who would protect all of them if not her?

 **A/N**

 **Hey guys!**

 **New chapter…. And oh my it was heavy….. I struggled to write it. First off I want to thank everyone who has been following me and/or Shattered from the very beginning. It truly truly means the world to me. If it wasn't for you guys, I don't know what I would do xD. But in all honesty it means the world. Those who just recently hopped on board! WELCOME! Have fun and get ready for a roller coaster that is everything in my mind.**

 **If you guys enjoyed the chapter please leave a follow, favorite, review, or pm. I love to hear from you all. It only encourages even more. I know I have been slacking with getting back in touch (stupid work…. *sigh*), but I do honestly read everything sent or reviewed. Got reactions, ideas, suggestions, feedback, criticism, predictions? Leave a review or a pm.**

 **One more thing: For those of you who are following up my other things….**

 **I realize that I've been updating Shattered weekly (or almost weekly). I want to stress that my uploading is not scheduled, I get in weird funks where I want to work on other things then get back to it.**

 **That being said, I want to make a few announcements for my other series if you follow them.**

 **There will PROBABLY not be another Shattered update next week… (I know I know…. But Im using next week to work on my other stories.)**

 **RWBY Conquest will be updated AT LEAST once a month (probably more though…)**

 **Halo: Remnant of the Past: AT LEAST once a month**

 **STRQ Reality: AT LEAST 2 weeks could be 3 weeks**

 **Arkos Books 3: Shatter Point: Don't even get me started… I have actually started working on it…. Trying to build up a backlog (It's on the stove cooking…. Be patient people)**

 **Thank you for all the support! It means the world**

 **-Shattered Team**


	16. Chapter 16: Changing Part 1

**Chapter 16: Changing Part 1**

 **2 YEARS LATER**

A lot of things can change in two years. Yang started her third year at Signal, training and preparing herself for the entry tests for Beacon. It also helped that her dad, Taiyang, was also a teacher along with her uncle, Qrow.

Ruby was also happy to have started her first year at Signal, where her uncle took a special interest in her, teaching her how to design weapons and training her on how to wield one of the most dangerous, yet powerful weapons, a scythe.

"You're going to modify your scythe and include a sniper rifle?" Qrow deadpanned.

"Well yeah, it's going to be the coolest thing out there." Ruby stuck her tongue out.

"It isn't very practical… I mean… a sniper and a scythe…" Qrow insisted.

"Says the one with scythe, sword, shotgun combo. At least mine can handle close quarters and long range combat. All you have is close quarters." Qrow looked like he was counter his niece, he pointed his finger in the air about to make a point and slowly deflated. He couldn't argue with that logic.

"Well, shotguns are better." He crossed his arms and turned his back, sticking his tongue out.

"No way. Snipers are cooler." Ruby followed his uncle's example.

"Both of you are wrong! Shotgun gauntlets!" A familiar voice rang out. Qrow and Ruby scowled at Yang. Yang smirked, placed her hands on hips looking at the two arguing over weapons as if they were children.

"NO THEY'RE NOT!" Qrow and Ruby shouted simultaneously.

Yang continued through the day. There was something eating away at her. She kept on questioning, why are they acting like nothing happened? It unnerved Yang, but she decided to push it down.

As the night drew on, Yang became increasingly and increasingly more frustrated. It had been the sixth year anniversary of the home invasion, yet no one seemed to care about it. No one mentioned except for Ruby on one occasion. Her dad played it off, pretending that nothing happened. Qrow seemed to have just forgotten altogether.

All her life, she was living a lie. She pretended to be a happy girl, a girl who was perfectly content with the world where everything was perfect, and sadly everyone believed the lie. She suspected that Ruby might have known. However, Yang would never let it show, it was more for Ruby's sake than anyone else's. But not now. She had to get some answers.

It had been the sixth year anniversary of meeting her mother. No form of contact, no visits, no anything. It was as if she showed up to protect them and just left. She remembered the brief visit. How her mother basically pleaded for Yang to forgive her. Yang remembered how she was covered in blood, of what Yang could only assume was that of the intruder.

Yang also remember how her mother said that she was proud of her and would always lover her? Well, where was that love? Nowhere. No that wasn't fair. You don't get to make a claim like that and not actually back it up. The least she could have done was a visit, even without her father around, but did she get that luxury? No. Hell, for all Yang knew, Raven never wanted her, Yang was a mistake. The only reason her mother showed up was because of some sad excuse of biological bond between parent and offspring, not a real loving connection.

Yang packed her bag angrily. She stuffed a set of clothing, some food, some water. She checked Ember Celica, making sure they worked properly and were fully loaded. Once fully satisfied, she slung the bag over her back. Everyone had to be asleep now. Dad, Ruby, heck even Uncle Qrow, and he never sleeps.

She opened the door slowly, avoiding the creaking sounds the hinges to give away her mission. She headed down the stairs to find a rather surprised Qrow eyeing her up. Shit, she thought. It's four in the morning, the man does not sleep.

"Yang what are you doing up so early?" Qrow asked inquisitively as he sat up from the couch sleepily

"Nothing." She said casually.

"Going somewhere?" His eyes locked onto the bag.

"I'm leaving." She said simply.

"And why is that?" All sleepiness out of his voice.

"I'm surprised you would remember." Yang retorted hotly.

"Sixth year anniversary of the attack." Qrow immediately responded. Yang froze. Qrow remembered, it didn't take him a second to think about it. He nailed it right on the head. Yang nodded. "You want to find your mother?" Yang grew pale. Was she really that much of an open book? She felt her hands tremble.

"H-h-how… How did you know that?" Yang stared at the man as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Lucky guess." He smirked. Yang quickly balled her hand into a fist. Now is not the time to be a scared little girl, she told herself. "I'm going to find her, I want answers."

"Answers to probably why she has left, why she hasn't seen you, does she love you, was she lying?" Qrow listed off. Yang's eyes turned crimson, just like her mother.

"YOU don't know what it is like!"

"I do…" Qrow said simply.

"No, you don't! She came here to say all of this bullshit about loving me and trying to protect me. Protect me from what? I can protect myself. She claimed she loved me, but hasn't even tried to show that. I'm sick of the lies! I WANT ANSWERS!" Qrow waited a few moments to have the blondie settle down. He got up.

"Yang, your mother loves you." Yang scowled at him. "It was more than what we received when we grew up. Our parents…. Were not… as affectionate." Qrow winced at the long-buried memories bubbling up from a part of his mind that he sealed away long ago. Yang noticed the wince, Uncle Qrow never talked about his childhood before Beacon, he was never saddened or hurt by anything, Qrow was always a happy man. Yang watched as the man gestured for his niece to take a seat.

Out of respect and concern, she complied and sat beside her Uncle. Qrow wrapped his arm around her, "I know my sister very well." He looked off in the distance. "She basically took it upon herself to raise me when our parents….." His voice trailed off. He cleared his throat, trying to ward off the awkward pause. "Well anyway... she looked out for me, as I did for her. She is one of the most loyal people I have ever known. She doesn't do something without considering absolutely everything."

Yang looked up at him.

"When she was carrying you, you know what she told me?"

Yang shook her head, anticipating the answer, dreading the answer, yet remaining hopeful.

"She was afraid." Yang frowned. Qrow didn't pay it any mind. "She was afraid that the people that were hunting her, hunting our family, would also go after you."

"Why couldn't she stay, and protect us then? Like you do?"

"Well….. Raven had been hunting them in return. She drew all of their attention on her instead of me." Yang started to understand. "Anything connected to her they would see as a target. They would have gone after you, your dad, me."

"So I was a mistake then."

"NO." Qrow straightened up, brow furrowed. "Don't ever say that." Yang shot him an angry look.

"But.."

Qrow ignored her, "I was there at the hospital when you were born. When I saw your mother, she had the look of pure joy, something extremely rare for her. I can tell you that she loved you with every fiber of her being. She told me 'I'll do anything for my little Yang.'" He looked at his niece. "She wasn't lying, she wants to protect you because she loves you. Which meant she had to go. I know it's hard for you to understand, but it was hard for her to leave. Extremely hard." He looked away. "She would do anything to make sure you could live a normal life, one without any fear."

"It isn't fair." Yang could feel a tear roll down her cheek. Great. She was being a stupid child. Her uncle held her tightly.

"I know."

"I just want to meet her. She sounds amazing, I want to be with her." She sobbed into Qrow's shoulder. "I just want my mom."

* * *

"I still can't believe your dad got tickets for all of us to go." Pyrrha agreed.

"It'll be so cool. I've never been to Mistral" Jaune said excitedly. Pyrrha nodded. She was nervous about leaving for Mistral, after all, it was her home before she lost her memory. Would anything jog her memory? Why would it, though? It had been nine years since she was in Mistral, since she had lost her memory. Since then, she had so many unanswered questions and they only kept building up as the years went on.

Jaune grumbled as he got off his bed. "Sheeessh... Raven did not hold back." He rubbed his sore back.

"Of course she didn't, It's Raven." Pyrrha shook her head with a smile.

"Come on, let's go to town. It's the last night we'll be in town for a while."

Jaune and Pyrrha went downstairs. They were greeted by John and Joan, who were home at the same time, a rather rare thing. Jaune told his parents that he and Pyrrha would not be going to the school prom. At first, they were disappointed, but as long Jaune and Pyrrha were happy, that's all they cared about.

"Alright, don't be out too late, we leave pretty early in the morning," Joan called out.

"Alright mom, we'll be back. See ya later," Jaune said as he closed the door behind them. He walked beside Pyrrha wearing his stereotypical black hoodie and jeans while Pyrrha wore a simple pair of jeans and a red modest blouse, her hair in its usual waist long ponytail.

After a short walk, enjoying the springtime scenery, they arrived in town.

"Whatcha wanna do?" Jaune asked, looking at all of the little town shops.

"Whatever you want to do," Pyrrha replied happily. The answer was met with a growl from Jaune's stomach. "Well, I think that answers that question." She smirked.

Jaune rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I didn't eat dinner…" Jaune's growl was met with Pyrrha's own stomach growl. She blushed ever so slightly.

"Neither did I."

* * *

 **Three Days Before Vytal Festival**

To say that Jaune was tired would be a huge understatement. Jaune was out like a lightbulb the moment the car started to drive off. Pyrrha sat in the passenger seat as John drove Pyrrha, Abella, and Jaune, while Joan followed behind in the other vehicle driving Catoline, Crystal, and Mabel. The small convoy was heading to the Valesian airport.

"So you excited?" John asked quietly.

"Mhmm". Pyrrha hummed, deep in thought, looking out of the car window. John had noted that Pyrrha had been slightly distracted for the past couple of days. New tactic time.

"Fish can fly." He stated as a matter of fact.

"Mhmm," she hummed. She blinked realizing what she just acknowledged . "Wait... What?"

"You seem slightly distracted..." John pointed out with a chuckle. "What's up?"

"Nothing..." Pyrrha failed to convince John.

"You're nervous, and it probably isn't because of an airship." Does it have anything to do with that we're heading back to your home city maybe."

Pyrrha didn't say anything.

"I'm right, aren't I?" John asked Pyrrha nodded keeping her eyes on forward.

"I want to find answers," she said hesitantly, "but I'm not sure if I'll like what I find."

"Do you really want to find answers?" John asked.

She looked at him "Yes..." She turned to look out at the window. "Maybe... I don't know. I'm glad that you and your family took me in..." Her voice started to grow a little shaky. "But I still want to know who my parents are... Were..." She held the tears in, hoping that John wouldn't be hurt. She didn't want to seem ungrateful after all of the kindness that he and his family showed her.

"Pyrrha, that's understandable." He patted her knee. "If there is any way I can help, just let me know. We're all in this together."

A tear of relief, of happiness, rolled down her cheek. "Thank you, Mr. Arc, I owe you all so much." She whispered.

"You don't owe us anything, we just want to see you happy." He replied back cheerfully. She gave a cheerful smile, one that conveyed a hope, that at least some of her questions would be answered.

The two vehicles parked at the airport. The Arc's disembarked and proceeded to submit their first class tickets.

They boarded the airship. Jaune found his seat beside Pyrrha. He was busy eating his renewable ice cream sundae while Pyrrha sipped on a soda.

"First class is the best!" Jaune exclaimed with a mouthful of ice cream.

"It is rather nice." She agreed. The airship started to take off as Jaune started to feel an odd sensation I'm the pit of his stomach.

Jaune started to feel uneasy to the point where his stomach was starting lurch. "Jaune are you alright?" Pyrrha looked at him with his greening complexion. Without saying a word, a hand on his stomach, other covering his mouth, he darted out of his seat and towards the bathroom.

"That's probably the worst case of motion sickness I have ever seen." John chuckled which earned a shove from his wife.

"I'll go check on him," Joan said as she made her way to the bathroom door.

After about twenty minutes, Jaune emerged from the bathroom.

He sat back down, staring at the floor clutching his stomach. Pyrrha rubbed his back soothingly, which helped alleviate some of the sicknesses. "Pyrrha."

"Yes, Jaune?"

"I take it all back, I hate airships, I hate all of them."

"I know," She replied, gently patting his back. "We'll get through this." She gave an amused smile.

Jaune just gave a sickly moan in response. The flight continued without incident except for two more bathroom visits from a sick Jaune.

The airship landed and the passengers started to disembark, by now Jaune felt slightly better. He noticed that Pyrrha was unusually quiet. She was usually quiet, but he could feel the tension in her. He watched as she walked a noticed how unusually meek she was. She hesitated for the briefest of moments before stepping off of the airship.

"Hey, you alright?"

"I am," she lied with a pang of regret echoed across her face before going back to its emotionless state.

He shot her a knowing look. "Really, I'm fine. Thank you for your concern."

Jaune nodded simply, deciding it was better not to push her. The family embarked a shuttle to their rather luxurious hotel room.

Each room had individual rooms which held two beds, they were connected by a rather comfortable living room.

"This is nice..." John grinned. "Better than our place."

He received a death glare from Joan.

"Except nothing beats home." He quickly corrected to appease the matriarch.

As the day progressed, the Arcs got busy unpacking their belongings. They ordered pizza and had it sent to the room. A few of them, however, noted how Pyrrha was unusually quiet and she hadn't really touched any of her food. Concerned eyes met concerned eyes, but they carried on, as usual, trying to get Pyrrha to join into no avail.

The night came around and all the Arcs went to bed all except for a certain adopted child. She glanced over to Jaune's bed to find him asleep. She quietly got up and slipped through the door, however, she failed to see the pair of sapphire eyes watching her.

She scanned the room. No one. She slipped through the door. She silently tiptoed through the room. She found her bag and packed it with a few things.

When she felt satisfied that she had enough provisions she slung her bag on her back and made for the door.

"Pyrrha where are you going?!" Jaune whispered loudly.

"Jaune go back to bed, this doesn't concern you."

"Just tell me." Jaune straightened up and moved to pack his bag. "Or don't either way, I'm going with you."

She looked at him, unsure of what to feel, of how to react. She couldn't help but to smile. "You're so persistent."

"Just like you." He grinned.

The smile on the redhead faded. It was replaced by a determined look. "I'm going to search for answers about my past."

"Alright! Let's do it." He nodded his head slinging his own pack.

"You aren't going to try and stop me?" Pyrrha sounded unsure.

"It'd be like talking to a rock," he said with a smile. "To be honest, though, if this what you want, I want to help. Through thick and thin right?"

"Through thick and thin." She agreed.

"Where do you think you two are going?" John stepped out of his own room.

"To get a snack?" Jaune lied blatantly.

"That's not what I heard." Jaune's bluff was discovered. "We'll search the library tomorrow, see if we can't find any hints." Pyrrha eyes glimmered with hope and thankfulness.

"It's too late now, so let's get some rest," John suggested, Pyrrha nodded with a small smile. These people, who aren't of her blood are going out of her way to help her. How could she ever repay that kind of debt?

 _ **Two Days Before Vytal Festival**_

Jaune was in his room doing a couple of basic exercises. He may be on vacation for the Vytal Festival but he still needed to maintain a regimen, even if he wasn't going to fully train while here in Mistral. Though the thought of Raven finding out he was slacking in his training was mildly terrifying. If he was being honest with himself though the reason he was even so much as doing push ups and sit-ups today was because he had nothing else to do other than think about what he could do to help Pyrrha, which wasn't much.

He fell into a groove, not thinking about anything while he was going about his workout. It wasn't until he heard a gentle knock on the door that he realized how much time had passed.

"Jaune? Are you in there?" He heard his sister, Crystal, call out from the other side of the door.

"Yeah… I was just passing some time," he responded while getting up from his push-ups and opening the door. "What's wrong?"

Crystal looked at him hesitantly for a moment before answering with, "Well I was hoping we could talk for a minute."  
"Of course. Come on in."

She followed him into the room, closed the door behind her, and looked around. "Were you cleaning your room to pass time or something? You've never had a room this clean. Even if it is a hotel room."

Jaune laughed lightly. "You'd be surprised. I'm actually a very clean person now. I don't enjoy messing my room up like I used to. I was actually doing a couple of exercises."

"You were doing exercises to pass time?" Crystal asked with disbelief as she walked to a window on the other side of the room. "What has my little brother become?"

"A huntsman in training," Jaune shot back proudly.

Crystal sighed sadly. "I've missed so much of your life… as well as the lives of our sisters."

Caught off guard by the statement Jaune gave her a questioning look before saying, "I was under the impression that you didn't really care about being a part of my life. I mean with all of the time you spent making fun of me and Pyrrha, I get that you didn't mean anything, but you didn't really spend that much time with us. It was like you were too busy with us"

"Actually," Crystal began softly as she sat on a nearby chair while looking out the window. "That's why I wanted to talk to you today." She turned to look at Jaune. "I'm really sorry for being there for you two. I never realized how much I was hurting the two of you and I wanted to let you know that I'm a better person than I was. I'm going to be going to college soon and I won't have any time to show that to you or Pyrrha but I want to at least ask for your forgiveness. I was just so busy taking care of the family, I forgot to be apart of the family."

"I understand Crystal, truly I do. I forgave you a long time ago Crystal," Jaune replied. " And I'm pretty sure Pyrrha understand too." He smiled lightly. "You're not the only one growing up Crystal."

Crystal laughed lightly at Jaunes remark. "I know… Our sisters are growing up faster than I ever thought possible. I was always under the impression that I'd be able to find more time for them later," she paused and looked down sadly. "And now that time is almost gone. College and a job will take all of my time for the next few years of my life and it might be too late to spend time with you guys after that."

"It's never too late to spend time with siblings Crystal. As long as we're alive we can always find time for each other. Like when Mabel asked me to help her learn to dance."

Crystal smiled at the memory of walking in on her two siblings dancing together one time before frowning slightly. "So why don't you spend any time with our sisters then?"

Jaune shrugged lightly in response. "I'm a boy. I figured that you girls are more interested in spending time together than with your brother. That mixed with the fact my training has left me with minimal time to myself and I don't get to spend much time with them. I don't think they want to spend much time with me anyway."

"That's where you're wrong. You're our brother Jaune and we love and miss you. You spend so much time training and doing other stuff that you're our brother in name only. We want to spend time with our brother and while it may be a little late for me our sisters can still benefit from knowing that they have an amazing brother who cares about them."

"Well I don't know about amazing but … I'll make sure to make some time for them," Jaune said while scratching the back of his head. "I guess I haven't been the best of brothers recently."

"It's okay. We all make mistakes. Thanks for this though Jaune. You have no idea how much it'll mean to them to have their brother back."

* * *

 **One Day Before Vytal Festival**

Ozpin leaned back in his chair craning his neck. Normally he would have been content with completing a rather difficult task, but this it was different. For two years, he had been trying to decode the message that Raven had given him. He was successful and incredibly lucky.

He looked over to Glynda and Professor Oobleck, a world class historian hunter who taught at Beacon. "Are you sure?" Ozpin asked as he looked over the projection of the letter rereading the strange language.

Brodyr a chwiorydd . Mae ein hamser i ddangos i'r byd , bydd y pechodau y ddynoliaeth yn fuan fod wrth law . Byddwn yn llosgi y gorwedd , twyll a llygredd allan ddynoliaeth . Byddwn yn amlygu'r helwyr ar gyfer y rhagrithwyr maent. Byddwn unwaith eto adfer cytgord rhwng pobl a phlant natur. Bydd yr ŵyl heddwch cerrig camu i heddwch erioed parhaol.

"Very much so," Oobleck said gloomily as he tapped his scroll and laid it on the headmaster's desk, establishing a connection. It showed the direct translation of the language.

Brothers and sisters. Our time to show the world the sins of humanity will soon be at hand. We shall burn the lies, deceit and corruption out of humanity. We will expose the huntsmen for the hypocrites they are. We will once again restore harmony between humans and the children of nature. The peace festival will be the stepping stone to everlasting peace.

"We're looking at the long dead Equo language," Oobleck explained.

"I'm sorry…. The what?" Glynda pushed up her classes, examining the language.

"The Equoians were a group of people who believed that humanity and Grimm could reach out to each other. Their language was based off an idea that Grimm would be able to respond to it. Even though their beliefs would have most certainly gotten them killed, they were able to establish a flourishing empire in Northern Vale based around a Grimm cult. It all came crumbling down as Dust was discovered and their subjects revolted. The Equoians and their language were wiped out from every single document."

"Then how do you know this?" Glynda eyed him suspiciously.

"Glynda, he's a historian, he's supposed to know these things." Ozpin chuckled.

"Precisely," Oobleck smiled.

Ozpin stood up and looked over the projection. "Their planning something for the Vytal Festival."

"How do you know?" Glynda asked.

Ozpin gestured at the last line. "Where did the great war end? The island of Vytal, and how do we celebrate the peace? With the Vytal Festival, the festival of peace." He rubbed his chin. "But what could they be planning?"

"Whatever it is, it can't be good." Glynda agreed.

Ozpin took his scroll and dialed for Qrow.

* * *

Raven stoked the fire at the entrance of her cave. She skewered the rabbit and placed it over the fire. Two whole years had passed, her life was incredibly busy between training Jaune and Pyrrha, watching over the Arc family, keeping an eye over Yang and Ruby, and hunting down the Legion. It was good to take a slight breather after the training with Jaune and Pyrrha.

By now, her cave was more liveable, with more comfortable furniture, more modern amenities. She didn't mind living in it, to be honest, she missed it. "You're predictable." Raven instantly reached for Crimson Wing. Her hand stopped when she realized it was Qrow.

"What are you doing here?" She raised an eyebrow. "How did you know I was here?"

"Ozpin sent me." He shrugged as he sat down next to the fire taking off his shoes. "Feels like it was just yesterday that we were here huh?"

"Yeah." Raven sounded distant in her own thoughts.

"Wow you still kept my old bed…" He walked over to it to inspect, not a spec of dust on it, as if it looked brand new. He sat on it and started to bounce. "Still the best bed I've ever slept in." He kicked his legs up.

"You never did tell me how you find me here." Raven tried to ignore his antics.

"Well.. you weren't with the Arcs. You weren't at Patch, so I figured I would try here. I see my gut was right."

Raven continued to turn the rabbit around over the fire. "You know you have a basically small fortune, you can choose to move into a decent apartment." Qrow said laying down on his old bed, hands behind his head.

"Too many people. I might get spotted." Raven answered as a matter of fact.

"Why don't you just move in with me. I have a comfortable place outside of Vale."

"Qrow, that would be putting you in danger. I could never allow that to happen.." Qrow was about ready to say something when Raven continued. "Besides this feels more at home than anything else. I miss this place."

"Did you visit Mom and Dad?" Qrow asked

"No." She replied simply.

"Raven..."

"Just stop. They were abusive parents who beat us and cut us off from the outside world. I have no love for them. They've died long ago, let them be forgotten." She said remembering their painful childhood. "Why did you come here?" She finally asked.

"Yang." He watched his sister intently. She instantly whipped her head over to him. Face full of concern, worry, anger, dread. "Is she alright? Did something happen to her?" Urgency evident in her voice.

"She's angry and upset," Qrow said slowly.

"Over what? Who do I need to kill?" Raven said darkly

"She wants to know if she was a mistake, if her mother loves her."

Raven shrank away. "Raven she wants to meet her mother. She wants you to come back." His words felt like a stab to the heart.

"I can't," she replied meekly.

"You can't or you won't?" Qrow pushed his older sibling.

"I… I…" She looked away, she never liked to get emotional ever, but crying was a new level for her. She rarely shed any tears, Qrow knew from experience.

"She almost ran away to look for you."

"What?" Her reddened eyes met Qrow's.

"She went out looking for you. I had to talk her down. She thinks that she was a mistake. That you don't love her, that you forgot about her, you never wanted her."

"Qrow please.." She turned to look at the fire. "Stop." She whispered.

"You promised you would stay in touch with your family, well that includes your own child." Raven knew he was right, but she was deathly afraid. She was afraid that the Legion would catch wind, and do something to harm her precious little yellow dragon. She only nodded. "Listen I understand why you're afraid, but she needs you."

"Once this is all over, I'll make it up to her." She promised Qrow, herself and Yang. Qrow seeming somewhat appeased nodded with a small smile.

"Ozpin sent me, he finally cracked that message you gave him."

She nodded slowly as she removed the rabbit. She offered some to Qrow who graciously accepted it.

He took a bite of it, savoring juices. "Still good with cooking I see." He said with a mouth full of food.

"Still bad with manners I see." Raven chuckled, she took a bite of her own piece of rabbit. She would never understand Qrow's obsession over food.

"Well, shall we go visit Ozpin." Raven cleaned herself off using a towel soaking in cold water in a bowl. She picked up Crimson Wing.

Qrow took his sword scythe, Shadow Wing, and with a flick of the wrist opened up a portal. "I see Ozpin gave you the other Rifter."

"Yeppers". He gave a mischievous grin.

"And I know you have been using it responsibly..." She warned.

"Well of course I have!" Qrow smiled innocently. Although Raven knew Qrow all too well, she was sure he was up to his usual crazy antics.

He gestured for her to go fist and she stepped through, followed by Qrow.

Within a matter of mere seconds, they were in Ozpin's office. In the middle of the office was a holo copy of the message that Raven had found.

"Qrow, Raven, I have dire news," Ozpin announced gravely. Raven could notice serious bags underneath his bloodshot eyes. The two waited for the professor to continue. "The Legion's next target is the Vytal Festival."

Qrow and Raven looked at each other as their hearts sank at the revelation. That was really really bad.

"Unfortunately, we have no idea what their plan is. I have already contacted the Mistralian ruling council, and they said they would 'look into the matter.'"

"That won't stop them..." Raven came to the conclusion.

"I need you and Qrow to look into it. Find out what their plan is and stop it." Ozpin shook his head look away to shield them from his pain. "I don't need to tell you what is at stake, but if you decide you do not want to undertake this, I will not hold it against either of you"

"We'll do it," Raven spoke for both of them, nodding simultaneously.

"Thank you." Raven turned around and opened the portal. The lives of so many counted on them just like so long ago.

 **Day of Vytal Festival**

The two didn't sleep, whether it was from excitement, trepidation, sympathy, or nerves. After a quick breakfast, and saying good-bye to everyone, the three left the room. John brilliantly made up the excuse that Pyrrha, Jaune and John were going out to explore while Joan should take the rest of the Arcs. In reality, he explained everything to his wife.

She reluctantly accepted, she thought that the entire family should come along. John countered this by saying that it would only add more stress to the young red head. Joan finally relented and agreed to distract the rest of the family, under the condition that they are back in time for the beginning of the exhibition.

The three walked throughout the large city. John did some research in the morning, their destination was the library to acquire genealogy records. If anything, records of Pyrrha, her parents, and all of her ancestors.

The library itself it was grand marble structure. It had massive marble columns to support a large roof. It was a three story building with large stone blocks piled one on another in perfect alignment. The windows were stain glass with famous Mistralian leaders while the window frame was made of entirely of gold. There were three revolving doors at the center of the massive structure.

As the three made their way into the building they were greeted with a massive interior dome at the center depicting the Mistralian crest. The main floor's walls were surrounded by large book cases while the center was home to workstations and study tables.

The second and third floors lined the massive wall supported by large columns. They too were also lined with bookcases and work areas. "I guess we should check with the circulation desk," John suggested as he led the three to the front of the library. The three approached. "Hello." The librarian greeted with a warm smile. "Is there anything I can help you with today?"

"Yes. I was hoping to find some documentation on the Nikos Family." John said casually.

The librarian eyed the older blond suspiciously. "And for what purpose….?"

"We're doing a research project to determine if she" She gestured to the redhead. "Is related to the Nikos family." The librarian looked at the three, satisfied, she gave them a passkey. "Insert this into any terminal. You should have access to the most up-to-date information."

"Thank you very much," John smiled at the librarian. They walked towards a secluded area with a computer terminal. He handed the card to Pyrrha. "You should be the one to do this." She looked at him, unsure of herself, but relented. He was right.

She inserted the key into the computer. After a brief bootup. A large list of names appeared. "Wow…." She breathed out silently. She came from a very old and prestigious family. All of them seemed to be great athletes, soldiers, generals, war heroes, and huntsmen. She felt proud to continue in their footsteps.

She scrolled down to the bottom, expecting to see her name. Nothing. Empty. She froze. "Pyrrha what is it?" Jaune asked eyes looking over to the monitor.

"I'm…. I'm….. not on the list." She felt something within her crack. "But…. I don't understand. I should be…"

"Maybe there is a glitch in the system," Jaune suggested sympathetically.

"I don't think so…" John whispered to himself. "This was supposed to be accurate."

"My parents….. They didn't even want me…" She started to unravel. Jaune wrapped his arm around her, rubbing her her arm.

"Shhh… Hey…" Pyrrha looked down. "You don't know that. We'll figure this out. Remember? I promised we would." She didn't say anything.

Jaune, his free hand, scrolled down to the last name on the list. Ektor Nikkos. He clicked the name which brought up a rather lengthy list of documents. One of which was a death certificate. Jaune's heart sank. Pyrrha looked up at the screen staring intently, committing everything to memory.

"Pyrrha, your dad was the Mistral Regional Tournament three times in a row." He tried to lift up her spirits. He clicked on the mother. "Your mom was a war hero."

She shook her head as Jaune to offer solace "Your parents were amazing people."

"And I was only a disappointment."

"I think they would be proud of you." He said as he continued his research. He noted an address of where they lived. "We could go over to your old home. Would that help?"

Pyrrha remembered how, in all of her dreams, the house always burned down. It had to be her old home "Sure, but I don't think we'll find anything." Pyrrha said downtrodden.

"Pyrrha there is still much we don't know," John reminded her. "Maybe it isn't what you think."

"I suppose." She muttered.

 **A/N**

 **Hi guys! It's been awhile huh?**

 **As you can see a new chapter! With some stuff and feels? Hopefully…. But idk. Sooooooo we're going to find some stuff out in the next upcoming chapters and let me tell you. I'm excited xD.**

 **Anywhoooooo…. I just wanted to thank my fabulous editor/helper dude Shaded for all his help**

 **Shaded: I am not fabulous. Though I do have a challenge. I wrote a segment of this chapter… who can tell me which segment?**

 **So if you like the chapter and such leave a review, pm, fav, follow all that stuff. Tell us what you think, reactions, thoughts, predictions, criticism, and all that stuff.**

 **Thanks as always! It means a lot.**


	17. Chapter 17: Changing Part 2

Chapter 17: Changing Part 2

Outside of the main city was a hill was a long forgotten road that had not seen travel. This road led for a mile through a lightly forested area. At the end of the road, lie abandoned hill. Around this hill was a rather impressive metal gothic fence, rusting away from lack of care. A gate unhinged was the only way in past this fence. One a part of the fence an old rusted sign sat a plaque with the word 'Ni os' on it.

"This has to be it." John checked the address a third time. "You go on ahead, if you need anything I'll be here"

The journey to this silent place wasn't terribly long, about an hour. It was a tension-filled silent walk. Pyrrha was deep in her thoughts, while Jaune was more concerned with defeating her depreciating thoughts. John believed in giving Pyrrha peace of mind.

Both of them didn't move for a few minutes. Pyrrha looked at the hilltop. Nothing was there, not even an abandoned house, just an overgrown field. A field filled with no answers.

"Why?" She walked towards the hill following an old paved driveway. Jaune followed closely behind feeling the heaviness of this place with each footstep

"Why what?" Jaune asked as they reached the top I the hill. A small little shrine was dedicated to the Nikos family. That was the final confirmation that Pyrrha needed.

"Why is nothing ever easy, simple, clear to me." Pyrrha balled her hand into a fist, She glared at the small shrine. "I come here expecting to have some ease of mind only to find out that my parents didn't want me, they were better off with me. They would probably be alive without me. Instead, here I am with an adoptive family that took a strange little girl because they pity her." The bitterness in her voice as she held her arms.

Jaune reached for her shoulder. The pain in her voice was too disheartening. "That's not..."

"STOP!" Pyrrha started to glow in pulsating dark gray Aura. The metal fence surrounding the state started to glow and shake as they were surrounded black pulsating energy .

"Pyrrha I understand what you are feeling..."

"NO YOU DON'T!" She lashed with her arms glowing in Aura. The metal fence that surrounded the area began to groan as they were being uprooted. "YOU COULDN'T EVEN BEGIN TO IMAGINE HOW I FEEL!" The true extent of rage manifested itself now. Years and years of anger, frustration, hate, loneliness, jealousy, sadness being unleashed at this very moment. "I've been through so much that no one should burden, and here you are saying that you understand? NO. YOU DON'T GET TO SAY THAT."

She turned to face Jaune with a face full of pain and anger, her anger hearing down on one blond point before her. "At least you have a family. Parents who love you. Siblings who love you. What do I have? Nothing."

Jaune's heart felt like it was being stabbed with each sentence. Where was all this coming from?

"Nothing.." She said bitterly still pulsating in black Aura.

"Pyrrha, you know that isn't true..."

"SHUT UP!" She lashed out the metal fence spears being flung outward, skewering anything unlucky to be caught in the line of a piece of fence.

Jaune took several paces back, mind blank. Pyrrha never got angry, never had an outburst like this. He was speechless, stunned, who was this person before him?

Pyrrha knew what she just said, did. No apology could ever take this back, could ever heal this wound. Once the anger was all out, she immediately regretted everything she said. She looked at Jaune with watery eyes. He just stood there, silently, slightly swaying as if a small gust of wind could easily topple him. What have I done? She thought to herself. She took a few steps backs, hand up to her mouth. "Jaune...?" She could feel her mouth move, her voice barely audible. "I... I ..." She backed off and started to run.

She ran as far she could trying to get away from everything, her past, her history, her family, her adoptive family. She just wanted all of it to stop.

John saw everything. He heard everything. He wanted to go up and comfort the poor girl but it had to come all out at some point. He walked up to his son.

"She's gone, Dad." He whispered staring at where his best friend ran off to.

"She'll be back. She just needs some time." He patted his son's shoulder. "She's going through a rough time."

"I know... But I just feel so helpless."

Before the conversation could continue, a dark red and black portal opened up, swirling in a circular motion. Jaune and John took several steps back unsure of what this thing was.

Out stepped a very familiar black and red clad huntress with crimson eyes with her brother.

"So how do you know about this place?" Qrow asked still poking at his sister. Raven froze,looking rather extremely surprised.

"John? Jaune?" Raven asked rather surprised, trying to hide something in her voice. "What are you doing here? How do you know about this place?"

"We could be asking you the same thing." John countered.

"We're on a mission from Ozpin. We tried to get contact you but scrolls were jammed, " she explained with urgency. "Listen, you need to take your family and leave Mistral right away."

"What? Why?"

"The Legion of Ash are planning something for the Vytal Festival. I can take all of you back." Qrow stepped up. "But we need to go now."

"A slight problem. "Jaune looked at the two older huntsmen. "Pyrrha just ran off."

Raven pinched her nose in frustration, shaking her head. "She knows about this place?"

"Yes," John confirmed, something wasn't adding up here.

"What is this place, Rae?" Qrow looked to her sister.

"This... This used to be Pyrrha's home." Raven looked away.

"How do you know?" John asked suspiciously. There was something she was hiding.

"It doesn't matter. We need to find her, get your family together and get you all out of here." John knew she was right, his questions could wait. "John, Jaune, go get your family, Me and Qrow will go after Pyrrha.." Everyone nodded and head their separate ways.

"Qrow, I think I know where she is heading, watch over the Arcs." He nodded. As soon as the Arcs were out of range, Raven morphed into her bird form scouring the land for a redhead.

* * *

 _ **Two hours later**_

Raven searched the woods until she came to a familiar clearing where their headstones rested. She found a familiar sitting cross-legged, and by the looks of it, crying.

Raven swooped down perching herself on a headstone that honored the still living girl.

"Go away bird." She muttered sadly. Her red bangs covering up her teary eyes.

"Qwaaaa?" The bird cocked its head as if almost asking a question.

"I'm supposed to be dead. Either my parents didn't want me, or I should be legitimately dead." She gestured to the headstone the bird was perched on. "Here lies Pyrrha Nikos." She shook head "Right beside the parents she never even knew." She gave depreciating laugh looking at the ground.

"I was debating on when I should tell you this." Pyrrha head shot up at the familiar voice. Raven looked down at the helpless girl before her. She felt sympathy for her, not knowing anything about her family. She should have told Pyrrha before she found out the hard way.

Raven sat beside the redhead who she considered an honorary child of hers. She wrapped an arm around her sympathetically.

"What?" Pyrrha asked.

"I don't know how to say this but I'm just going to say it. I knew your parents, we've met before." Raven whispered.

"W-w-what?"

"What happened to you, your family, it was all my fault." Raven shuddered at the long ago memory. Her voice wavering.

"I-I don't understand... "

"The people who have attacked you and your family, the Legion, they are an extremely old organization. I've been dealing with them for all of my life. After I graduated Beacon, I kept on hunting them, hoping to wipe them out. I thought I had come close to wiping them out."

"I don't understand. What does this have anything to do with me?" He gestured at the two headstones in front of her. "With them?"

Raven looked up at the headstones, frowning with guilt. "My hunt took me to Mistral, where I believed I had found the very last cell of the Legion. I learned the next target of the Legion were the Nikos." She looked at the Nikos sadly who looked so lost and confused, but now angry. "I tried to help your parents, I offered to protect them." She hesitated.

"They said no, didn't they?"

She nodded her head. "They said they could watch over themselves. I tried to warn them they weren't any ordinary thugs. These were experienced killers who knew how to deal with hunters. Even still, they wouldn't have any of it."

Pyrrha didn't say anything, her face hiding all of her emotions. The anger, the hate, the sadness.

"That didn't stop me. I hunted them down, but when I found their base, I learned I was too late, the group had already attacked. It was the same group that attacked your school." She looked at the redhead, a tear running down her cheek. "I am so sorry... I failed you... Your parents... If I was only faster... If I had stayed... I could have prevented all of this if I had only insisted. If I just waited instead of going off to find them. You could have had a normal life."

Pyrrha was silent, reevaluating everything. She looked at the older huntress, her friend, her trainer, her guardian, and she hugged her. No words were needed, they both knew that all was forgiven.

"When I reached the house, it was on fire. I stormed in and I assumed that you were gone..."

"I don't blame you. You couldn't have known."

A few moments passed. "I did this." She gestured towards the headstones. "I come here every anniversary to remind myself of how carelessness can be so dangerous." Pyrrha nodded understanding the act of respect.

"What were they like?" Pyrrha asked looking at the ground, picking at some blades of grass.

"They were stubborn, but loving. They loved you a lot."

"That isn't true, they didn't want me." She said bitterly

"Why would ever say anything like that?" Raven said stunned.

"I wasn't even given a birth certificate. They wanted to give me up."

"Pyrrha." She ran her hand through her red hair. "They did that to protect you. They knew they were being followed for years. They wanted to hide you from the Legion. They love you so much. I can promise you that. I know they would be proud of the strong young woman you have become."

Pyrrha, for the first time smiled. It quickly faded, remembering what had transpired a few hours ago. "I yelled at Jaune, I said stupid things I shouldn't have."

"I'm sure he will forgive you. You two have always been close. I'm sure he understands." Raven stood up giving a hand to her protégé. "We need to get all of you out of here."

"Go back and meet up with Raven and Qrow. If what they say is your true, we need to get out of here. I don't want you to be in the city if something happens." John stopped

"But..."

"GO!" Jaune nodded hesitantly and ran off.

John ran and ran. He darted through alleyways and buildings to get back to the hotel. Almost crashing into several people, he reached the elevator where he smashed the elevator button. Deciding it would take too long, he ran up the stairs. He ran down the corridor and burst through the door. He scanned the room. "Shit." No one he found a note out in the living room

 _'Hey guys we decided to head to the festival early. We already have tickets, we tried to call, but the lines were busy. See ya there_

 _Joan'_

"No. NO." John said as he uplifted the table in a rare display of anger. He froze thinking what he should do. Tell the Branwens or try to find his family. His family. Jaune was already in good hands, and Pyrrha would be found. Right now his family was in grave danger.

He ran out of the room, bringing up his scroll. He dialed for his wife only to receive static. "COME ON!" He yelled at his scroll as he scrambled out of the hotel. The lines should not be busy.

He darted towards the nearest shuttle port and presented his ticket. The ride was unbearably slow for John. It felt every second tick by was a second that whatever was going to happen would happen.

* * *

Raven and Pyrrha walked towards the hill. Expecting no one. "Well, they should be here soon. Qrow tends to be a tad bit off with his time management." Raven sounded slightly annoyed as she scanned the area. "John was also bad at keeping time now that I think about it..." She crossed her arms her tapping her fingers on one of her gauntlets.

"There's Jaune." Pyrrha pointed out with a smile, which quickly faded, where was his father? As Jaune was running a crow flew above him, it descended two adds the two women as Jaune reached the top of the hill.

The crow landed before the three of them. The only one who wasn't particularly phased by this was Raven.

"Guys, you can't tell anyone what you see here." Raven looked down at her brother as he morphed into his normal human form. He stretched his arms in the air popping his joints. "Hey, guys." He smirked at their rather astonished faces. "You act like you've never seen a changeling before." He received a sharp elbow to the side and a death glare from his sister. "Right. Shutting up now."

"So Jaune, anything?" Raven got straight to business.

"My dad sent me back to let you guys know that he was going after the family. They're probably at the hotel room."

"Actually... He headed to the Amity Coliseum ." Qrow clarified. He got an eyebrow raise from Jaune.

He held his hands up defensively. "I might have been following you two. Someone had to watch over you two."

Raven looked Qrow. "Stay here and watch over the two, I'm going to get the others."

"Wait, I should go with you." Qrow stepped up

Jaune and Pyrrha joined in as well "We're coming."

The three were met with an unyielding gaze from Raven. "No, you three are staying here."

Qrow crossed his arms, "I don't like this."

"I don't care if you don't like it." Raven said, she let out a breath and started to morph into her familiar bird. The raven started to climb in altitude as it flew towards its destination, the massive floating arena that had floated above the city.

"Well, crap." Muttered a bored Qrow as he plopped himself on the ground bored.

Pyrrha glanced over at Jaune who was awkwardly fidgeting with his hands. Pyrrha let out a sigh and braced herself. "Jaune can we talk?"

He hesitated before looking at her. Should he? He remembered clearly how their last 'talk' went. In the end, it didn't matter, he was going to be her friend no matter what the problem. He looked at Pyrrha, he noticed how her shoulders were drooping more than usual, her mouth downward, red eyes. Something was really bothering her. "Sure..."

Pyrrha hands shook, she couldn't look him I'm the eye. "Jaune, I just wanted to say that I am so sorry. I... I don't know why said all that. I just... Well, there is no excuse or I... I... Understand her if you hate me..." Her voice trailed off at the thought.

Jaune instinctively reached out and hugged her bringing her forehead to rest on his. "Remember what I said? You're my best friend right?"

She paused a moment, blushing at the closeness. She felt unnaturally happy and content right now. "Right."

"I'm here for you anytime, anywhere."

"Thank you." She smiled happily. She didn't care about anything in the world. If felt as if everything that was weighing her down was wiped away for the briefest of moments until...

"Awww you to look cute together," Qrow smirked . Jaune started to cough in response as Pyrrha broke away blushing the same crimson color as her hair. "Qrow! Stop talking!" They both yelled at him. He held up his hands defensively

"It was a joke!"

* * *

The match was about to begin. A rematch between the Mistralian Vytal champion from the last Vytal tournament and the Atlesian Vytal champion two festivals ago. As was customary, the Festival started with the last two winners having an exhibition match.

"WELCOME! WELCOME EVERYONE WHO IS TUNING IN!" The announcer started. "WE HAVE ANOTHER EXCITING EXHIBITION FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE!"

"It's a shame that the others are going to miss this," Joan commented.

"It's going to be a good fight." Crystal agreed.

The two combatants shook hands and took their places.

"Ten lien that the Mistralian wins," Mabel said.

The combatants stopped.

"You're on." Catoline took her sister on.

The Mistralian dropped his weapons.

Joan raised an eyebrow. "What's going on?"

He started to take off his armor to reveal something.

It looked like a vest with a great many wires snaking around him.

"Oh no," Joan whispered he held a switch in his hand.

"The Vytal Festival is a lie! It's all a sham! The kingdoms have rigged the entire festival from the very beginning. Huntsmen are not trained to fight Grimm or protect the people! We were created to be the elite of the elite armies for the next war, and let me tell you, it is coming. WE have lied to you. All of you. I cannot, in good conscious, live a lie anymore. I WILL WIPE AWAY THIS SYMBOL OF CORRUPTION!" He pressed down on the switch. Suddenly, there was a brilliant flash as a large concussive force rocked the stadium. A massive explosion took out the entire arena, incinerating everything and everyone on the arena floor as well as well first few rows surrounding the arena.

A series of explosions rocked the arena as several bombs placed strategically in the arena went off. One bomb in particular was in the engine room that helped maintain the propulsion of the arena.

Joan was slammed back against her back with such force she couldn't catch her breath. She then felt as if a goliath was sitting on her, the intense pain was all she could feel . She could hear a few other booms echo throughout the stadium as everything grew hazy. " Crystal?" She called out. No response. "Abella?" "Catoline?" "Mabel?"

Everything grew darker.

She heard a voice a call out to her "Joan!? Oum Damnit stay awake."

"Save them." She remembered herself saying until she gave in.

* * *

John watched from the air shuttle as the there was a massive explosion coming from the arena. John instinctively reached his hand out, touching the class. Maybe they're still alive.

Another explosion, another, and another. The Arena was being riddled with explosions. "NO!" He shouted as he watched the massive floating arena tilt towards the ground, explosions cascading through the arena. He watched as the arena started to descend, along with his heart. Maybe they got out in time. He prayed to any being out there to intervene and save his family. He collapsed on his knees, blonde hair over his sapphire eyes.

"Why?" He whispered

* * *

Raven was in the rafters of the arena when the first explosion occurred. Thankfully the steel beams protected as the fire didn't reach her. She scanned the arena using her avian eyes. 25th row she counted, section B, six seats over. She found the Arc children, all unconscious, Crystal bleeding from her head as she slumped over the Arc children. Shit. She quickly found Joan, arm pinned under a massive beam, while a piece of shrapnel punctured her belly from behind. She was calling out for her children. Raven unsheathed her sword and with all her might, pictured the Nikos estate.

The portal opened up as the stadium started to shift downward. Raven quickly picked up Mabel and Catoline and ran through the portal while using her aura and mental power keeping a stable power. She found Qrow, Jaune, and Pyrrha staring at her as she brought. "Take them." She ordered harshly. Qrow took them and set them down. Raven ran through the portal and picked up Abella and gave her to Pyrrha.

Pyrrha took her, completely unsure as to what happened, she held onto the girl tightly as possible whispering "It's going to be alright."

Raven could tell if it was more for the redhead sake or for the little girl's.

Next came Crystal, blood oozing from a head wound. The tricky one. She gently scooped up Crystal and walked through the portal handing her to Jaune. "She's got head damage. Be careful."

Jaune nodded as she held onto her sister.

Raven could feel a massive migraine setting in, the affect the Rifter was starting to take its toll. She ran through the portal, discovering Joan.

She tried to lift the beam up on Joan's arm to no success. "Oum Damn, you aren't going to die today."

"Save them." She muttered.

"Their fine, you're going to be fine," Raven grunted as she tried to lift the beam. Shit. It didn't budge. The arena continued to tilt. Shit. Shit. The headache was getting worse, she could feel her aura weakening.

She had one chance. She ran through the portal. "Pyrrha I need you. Let's go. Qrow, go find. John." Qrow nodded as Pyrrha looked helpless. "Go I got her." Jaune insisted. Pyrrha nodded and laid Abella down. She scrambled to her feet.

"I need you listen to everything I tell you her carefully. Do you think you can do that?" Pyrrha nodded.

"Alright, follow me..." She finished, holding her head with her hand the portal was starting to be too much. She stepped through. Pyrrha looked at the massive swirling rift before, she didn't know what it would be like to step through, but she trusted the older huntress. She stepped through.

She felt as if she had crossed through help, her stomach being thrown into turmoil. The world that Pyrrha found herself was that of hell, pain, and suffering. There were massive fires surrounding her, metal splayed out, bent every imaginable and unimaginable way. She could make out the cries of help and the cries of pain all at the same time.

"Pyrrha over here." Raven voice snapped her out of the hell. She had a job to do. She moved with urgency as she discovered Joan, not awake pinned by a massive steel beam.

Pyrrha stared at Mrs. Arc. Was she gone? "Is she dead?"

"No, but we need to get her free. Pyrrha I need you to lift the beam."

"I... I... Don't think I can."

Raven rushed over, nose bleeding, She placed a confident hand while grimacing in pain.

Pyrrha stretched out her hand as she glowed in aura. The beam glowed with the intensity, it started to rattle. Then came to a stop.

"I can't do it."

"If you don't do it, she dies. Try again." Raven insisted. Pyrrha closed her and focused all o her aura into her semblance. The beam glowed intensely as it shook violently. Raven with all of her might helped to lift the beam.

The beam started to move. "Keep. Going." Raven grunted. The beam lifted off in the ground, Raven quickly scooped up the unconscious Joan with one hand and grabbed Pyrrha with the other and rushed into the portal.

The three made it to the other side. An exhausted Pyrrha, an unconscious Joan, and a bloody Raven. "Qrow, take her... I... need... To find John.." She panted.

"I don't think you're in any condition to..."

"I don't care, take them to Beacon... If Ozpin has a problem with it, I'll deal with him. Go." Raven morphed into her bird form as she struggled to flap her way to the city.

Qrow put Joan down beside her other daughters and took out Shadow Wing. He extended to scythe mode and opened a rift to Beacon. A certain headmaster was going to get a rude awakening.

John spent hours scanning through the crowd, hoping and praying for any sign of his family. No one answered his prayer.

"Qwaaaa." He looked to see a rather large Raven crash into alley. Unusual. For whatever reason, he felt compelled to go into that alley only to discover an exhausted and bloody Raven. He rushed and helped her sit up. "Raven are you alright?"

She stood up on shaky legs, "Yeah I'm fine. Listen we got your family." Upon hearing that, John immediately picked Raven and squeezed her in the most intense bear but she had ever experienced. "J-J-John... Listen... Put me... Down..." John did so still smiling. "I have some bad news..." His smile faded. "Crystal... She had some head trauma and Joan... She was pinned under a beam." Color flushed from his face.

"Are they going to be okay?"

"Hard to say, we've taken them to Beacon." She took out her odachi and opened a portal with the last bit of her aura. "Hurry." John stepped through after an exhausted Raven.

On the other side, they were met with Ozpin and Qrow. Raven stepped through, blood seeping from her nose, and corner of her mouth. She collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

"Raven!" Qrow rushed after her, lightly tapping her face to wake her up. John rushed over. "John, go to your family. I'll watch over her."

* * *

 **Ozpin took his scroll out as he read new reports came in. Atlas mobilizing its fleet against more acts of aggression from what they call, savage westerners. Mistralians were cracking down on protests. All the kingdoms were looking for someone to blame.**

Divisions were forming within Mistral, people were protesting and rioting against the senseless violence committed by what they had thought was an honorable and upstanding protector of the kingdom. The Legion of Ash was indeed right, everything was going to be different.

"Ozpin, it wasn't your fault." His assistant, Glynda tried to reassure the wary professor.

"Thousands of lives were lost today, more in the coming days. If only I acted faster, broke the message sooner, we could have turned this around." He looked through the window watching surgeons do their work on the oldest Arc child. The poor girl, he warned as the surgeon started drilling. The sound would forever haunt Ozpin.

 **A/N**

 **Hey guys sooooooooooo things happened again.**

 **What just happened? Vytal Festival attacked? Thousands of dead? Mistrust between the kingdoms? And who did it? *shrugs shoulders* Who are the people going to blame? *shrugs shoulders* I don't know… Big question is why though?**

 **Tell me what you guys thinks, give anything, I love hearing what you guys think. What do you think will happen after the Vytal Festival has been hit? Have questions? Ask them. Opinions? Share them. We love to hear from you.**

 **Things are moving, The Legion of Ash is on the march… or are they? Dun dunn dunnnn.**

 **Anywho thanks for reading! It means a lot.**

 **P.S. I know I've been bad at getting back with reviews… I've been hardcore sick the past three weeks, but Imma get back on that train, I promise.**

 **-Lordxsauron**


	18. Chapter 18: The Cost to Family

**Chapter 18- The Cost to Family**

Two red eyes snapped open. She remembered being in Ozpin's office with John... Then, crap. She looked herself down to find she was not in regular battle attire, but a hospital gown. Crap.

"Raven!" An all too familiar husky voice called out.

"John, Bros first. Raven! Nice to see you awake from your little nap." A happy Qrow said beaming down at her at a rather uncomfortable closeness.

"Personal space?" She responded. Qrow gave an apologetic look, "Oopsy."

"How are you feeling?" John asked with a concerned look.

"Like someone pounded my head a semi truck, but fantastic." She massaged her temples.

"The doctors say you got a bad case of Aura depletion, and with that Rifter, it's a real bad combo."

"Yeah I noticed." She continued to rub her temples. John stood up, smile replaced by an all too familiar serious look.

"Raven, I never got to thank for saving my family a second time. I'm so lucky to have both of you as friends."

Raven gave a rare, shaky smile. "Anytime John," Qrow replied back for his twin. John being satisfied left the room. Raven's smile quickly evaporated as she rested her head back on the pillow.

"You can't blame yourself." Qrow pulled a chair beside her sister. Raven just couldn't accept it. So many things could have happened to change everything. If she was faster at finding Pyrrha, it could have ended better. If she helped Ozpin, things could have ended better. If she interrogated and hunted more of the Legion, things could have ended better. Now, Crystal was in critical condition, Joan was still out, all because she was too slow. "Qrow." She spoke up, looking at the ceiling.

"Mmm?"

"Is it bad that I sacrificed thousands of lives for eight people?"

"You didn't though, you couldn't have known what would have happened."

"I stopped our mission to help to find an adopted girl." She shot back bitterly. Qrow sat in his chair in uncomfortable silence filling the room. "Is it bad?" She finally asked.

"Do you think you did the right thing?" Raven nodded.

"Then don't have any regrets about it."

"I'd do it again too. I would gladly watch the world burn if it meant protecting them, all of them." Qrow instantly knew who she meant. Himself, her old team, her family, her daughter, Ruby, now the Arcs and Nikos child. Before Qrow could say anything, Raven sat up with a grunt of pain.

"Raven, I don't think you should be getting up." She just gave a wave of the hand. Despite what Qrow said, she had to go and see with her own eyes what her carelessness had done.

"Really... I don't think you should be trying to get out of bed. "

"I used too much Aura, I didn't lose my legs." She brushed his concern off as she swung her legs over the side of the bed. "And get me my damn clothes. I look ridiculous in this gown." She gestured to the loose fabric with blue and white frilly flowers. Qrow busted up laughing

"Ah come on, it suits you." Raven walked over to her little brother and punched him in the shoulder

* * *

John had been around shuffling between the different rooms, talking to doctor and nurses, and keeping tabs on Crystal's surgery which was still happening. So when he sat down in the lounge chair, he instantly fell asleep. However, the two others with him could not fall asleep.

Pyrrha sat silently beside Jaune in the waiting room. She held his hand, occasionally giving him a reassuring squeeze. She felt responsible for all of this. If she hadn't run away, there would have been more time for Qrow and Raven to rescue Jaune's family. They could maybe even have stopped the attack.

Instead, it all fell apart because of her selfish search for answers. She apologized profusely to everyone, but to everyone, she was a hero for saving Mrs. Arc. However, she felt solely responsible for Crystal. How everything can change in a blink of an eye.

"I'm sorry Jaune, for everything."

"It's not your fault, it's those bastards who attacked the Festival." Pyrrha nodded solemnly, He meant well, but his words did change her heart.

"Crystal will be alright, I'm sure of it," Pyrrha reassured her friend.

"Everything was going great. I was finally bonding with her then this happened."

She squeezed his hand. "I know."

"Mind if we join you?" They turned around to see a Raven in her customary gear, beside her, stood the lanky Qrow.

"Raven! You're awake?! And not in hospital clothing...?" Jaune pointed out slightly confused.

"Doctors here know not to try and piss me off." She said simply as Jaune and Pyrrha went over to hug the older hunter who winced in pain. Jaune waved Qrow over who reluctantly strolled over, hands in pockets. He was rather surprised by Jaune strength. He definitely had Joan's strength.

"Guys... Still... Sore..." Raven blurted out in pain. Everyone broke off at that. Everyone went down to sit back down Qrow and Raven in front of Pyrrha and Jaune.

"How are you feeling?" Pyrrha asked.

"Like someone was pounding my head with a hammer." Pyrrha winced as Raven chuckled. "So what's everyone's condition?"

"Well... Abella, Catoline, and Mabel are still unconscious. Mom is still out, she suffered several broken ribs, punctured a lung, a broken arm, and open fracture in the right leg." Jaune listed off sadly.

"Jaune, she's a fighter, she'll be fine. Trust me." Raven smiled reassuringly. Jaune looked away uncomfortably, it wasn't very reassuring.

"Then... Then... there is Crystal. She suffered a lot of trauma. They had to go in operate on her." He hung his head. "The doctor said that without Aura, it is unlikely she'll make it..." He could feel Pyrrha's hand again squeezing. He looked at her, trying to give an unconvincing, shaky smile, which made her even more concerned.

Raven leaned forward, head hung low, staring the floor. "I am so sorry. This was all my fault." She muttered through gritted teeth.

"Raven..." Jaune spoke up.

It went unheeded by the heavy-hearted huntress. "I could have done so many things to prevent this..."

"If there is anyone to blame, it's me," Pyrrha spoke up. Raven looked at the redhead not getting her meaning. "If I hadn't run away, if I hadn't looked for my parents, this wouldn't have happened. Crystal would have been alright. Thousands of people would still be alive."

"You don't know that." Jaune refuted her.

Raven agreed. "For all we know, all of you could have died."

"It doesn't matter. What happened happened. Everything was out of our hands." Everyone looked over to John who was wiping the sleep from his eyes. "No one is to blame."

"Mr. Arc, your wife is awake." A nurse stepped in.

The five got up, John leading the way. As they entered the room, they were met with the strong, older brunette, her brown eyes meeting all of them, although there was some pain in her eyes.

"Honey!" John rushed over while Jaune and Pyrrha rushed over as next.

"Mom!"

"Mrs. Arc!"

They all rushed over. Raven and Qrow held back, giving the family some privacy. However this did not go unnoticed. "Branwens, get in here." They reluctantly complied, but deep down were honored. As Jaune, John, and Pyrrha huddled around the bed. Raven propped herself up on window sill enjoying the warmth from the sun while Qrow preoccupied himself with his third jello cup.

"Qrow did you at least ask?" Raven reminded his brother of his abysmal manners.

He held up the jello cup innocently pointing at the cup, giving puppy eyes with a mouth stuffed with jello. "Go ahead." A light-hearted Joan said cheerfully. "It's the least I owe you two." Raven felt a pang of regret, did she not know?

"Pyrrha did most of the work." Raven commended. Joan looked at the young redhead with a raised eyebrow. Pyrrha shyly shrugged.

"Well then Pyrrha, thank you for getting me out of there." She also looked at the Branwen twins. "And thank you for saving my family."

Speaking of family, Joan scanned the room, something was off. "Where is everyone else?" John took her hand. "They were hurt. The doctors say they'll make a full recovery." He paused suddenly looking downcasted.

"What is it." John couldn't look at her in the eye. It was dead silent.

Moments went by.

No one moved no one said anything, a pin drop could be heard.

"Crystal might not make it." In her self-blame, Raven broke the silence.

"W-W-What do you mean?"

"She's received some serious head trauma... Without aura..." Raven couldn't look at her long time friend. "I'm sorry."

"No. There has to be something that they can do." She started to force herself up, grunting in excruciating pain, as her body and broken bones protested fiercely. She felt several hands holding her down which made her resist even more. Nothing was going to stop her from seeing her precious baby.

"Joan, please don't. They're doing everything that they can, you can't do anything about it." John said as he held her down

"No. . No." She tried to wrestle free.

"We are doing everything in our power to help her. Beacon's infirmary has some of the best surgeons and doctors in all of the Remnant." A calm and collected voice said. A man with gray and sloppy hair, hazel eyes with a black and green style of clothing came into the room. "It is regrettable that this has happened, but rest assured, we look after our own." Ozpin gave a saddened smile to all of his old students.

"Ozpin, we need to have a chat." Raven said neutrally, but the fire in her eyes told him that she anything but calm.

"Of course Ms. Branwen." He followed her lead.

The two walked out of the room. Once Raven was sure that the two were alone, she grabbed Ozpin by the neck and slammed him up against the wall. She was so angry, so irate with everything. Two years of hunting the Legion, of being hunted, and for what? No results. When results were made, it was the day of the attack. Ozpin should have sent more hunters. Why just us. It was so much bullshit.

"Why couldn't you crack the message earlier?!" she growled, fire in her eyes. "Why just send us two? Why not give us more information? WHY?!"

Ozpin stayed calm and collected as the strong hand lifted him up in the air. He made no attempt to struggle, he offered no resistance as he stared back. In truth, he could easily break out of his former student's grip and incapacitate her, but had decided against such actions. It was better for his formal student let it all out

"Miss Branwen, I know you're upset."

That ticked her off, even more, she slammed him up against the wall. "You. You don't even know the half of it."

"It took us two years to crack the message. We lost a lot of good hunters trying to break it. We had Oobleck look into it, which almost cost him his life."

"Why send us? Why not send Glynda? Or someone else?"

"Like I said before, you're an expert on dealing with these mad men." Ozpin gave her a sympathetic look. "If there something I can do, please let me know." Raven loosened her grip and put the headmaster down as she continued to loom over him.

"You're going to let Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos into Beacon." To be honest, she had trained those two for years. They had become excellent swordsmen, while Pyrrha was able to master martial skills faster than Jaune. She was able to master the rifle as well as the spear. Jaune in the meanwhile, was able to become adept in tactics and strategy. She had no doubt those two would be able to pass the entrance exams.

"I can agree to that," Ozpin smiled, she raised an eyebrow, jaw slightly slacked.

"No, you don't have to convince me. You were the best in your class, if you've trained them, then we don't have to waste time on them with petty tests."

"I have a favor to ask." Raven backed off, satisfied.

"Go ahead."

"If the worst is to happen for the Arc girl, is there any way the school can tap into my personal fund to pay for the funeral arrangements?"

It was the professor's the to be confused.

"Why not do it yourself?"

"The Arcs would never allow for me to pay for it upfront, I feel responsible for all this, and they need financial help, I want to help."

"Miss Branwen, don't even worry about it. Beacon will cover all expenses." Raven lashed out, slamming her fist into the wall, putting a fist size hole in it.

"Just do it." She growled.

"Alright Ms. Branwen, please just calm down." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "None of this was your fault. You can't blame yourself. If anyone, it should be me." Raven didn't respond.

"Ozpin."

"Yes?"

"I'm going to hunt them all down. I'm going to kill each one I get my hands on, slowly, very slowly." Ozpin did not like the path his former student was taking. However, he could understand where it was coming from, although at what cost? The hate, the anger was always something that Raven had battled with since she was a child, but now it was starting to consume her. He was about to say something when they were interrupted by a surgeon in operating scrubs.

The surgeon didn't seem surprised that there was a hole in the wall. Branwen at it again. A familiar patient with some questionable bedside manners. He, however, feared the news he was about to share.

"Sir." He interrupted the two. Both eyes focused intently on him.

"Yes, doctor? What is it?"

He felt the eyes of the headmaster and the Branwen bore into him. "We were able to reduce swelling in the brain, but there was significant trauma. She's in a coma... on life support."

"Will she make it?" Ozpin leaned in closer.

Silence.

"He asked you a question..." Branwen growled, clenching her fist.

"Honestly, we don't know. It is unlikely, though."

A few moments went by. The ticking of the clock sounded like a drum. By now, the doctor had left, and it was just Ozpin and Raven. "I'm so sorry." Ozpin's shoulders sagged as if he had a lifetime of these moments. "I'll take my leave." He walked off, the tapping of his cane on the floor was the only thing that Raven heard.

This just added to another one of her list of being a failure. What was she going to tell them? She pounded the floor with her fist pretending as if it was the one who caused this.

She stood up and took a deep breath as she opened the door to the room. Everyone was chatting and talking trying to distract each other. However, the dark raven was the one that was going to shatter their illusion.

Qrow was the first one to see Raven's saddened expression. She was good at hiding her emotion, but the way she hesitated when she entered the room was a good indication. It was only reinforced by what she shared. "Guys..." Her voice struggled. Everyone looked at her. "She's in a coma... they... don't know if she'll ever come out..." Her voice barely a whisper, almost hugging herself, "She's on life support."

A heavy silence blanketed the room. They knew who 'she' was and 'gone' meant. This was the all-important moment to let it soak in. They had lost one of their own. Everything froze in time.

Raven broke the silence. "I'm so sorry." She headed out of the room shoulders low, her steps heavy. Qrow followed her out of the room.

John was lightly holding on his wife who was quietly sobbing in his shoulder. Jaune got up from his chair without saying a word he got up.

Just like that, she was gone, he already made the conclusion. She was going to die. He lost his oldest sister, the person who took care of him, of the whole family when his dad was injured, when his mom was too busy trying to support the family financially. She had helped Catoline with relationship problems with boys, she taught Mabel how to cook, she helped Abella with homework. She helped Pyrrha by welcoming her into the family and treating her no different, and she helped him with literally everything. She was a role model to him, and that role model was snatched away from him.

Now nothing, a void, a hole was in his heart, an undeniable, unbearable hole. He found himself in this strange limbo as he left the room. He noticed Raven and Qrow out in the hallway talking in hushed voices, but he didn't pay them any mind. They looked at him, they might have said something to him, but he didn't know.

He went over to the vending machine and got a soda. He started to chug away at it, noticing it was empty, he dropped the can on the ground. He paid another lien and selected another drink and began to chug. So on and so on.

Pyrrha went to find Jaune to check up on him. She believed in giving time for Mr. and Mrs. Arc for coming to terms with the revelation. She found Raven and Qrow talking.

"He's in bad shape," Qrow whispered to her. He wasn't the only one. Raven was leaning up against the wall, arms crossed, scowling at the ground.

Pyrrha looked at Qrow and nodded towards Raven "Is she going to be alright?"

"I hope so. She takes these kinds of things kinda hard." Qrow rustled her hair, "Go on, he needs you." She nodded and headed down the hallway to find a Jaune slurping away at soda, surrounded by eight other soda cans.

"Jaune...?"

He didn't respond, he just kept on drinking.

She moved slowly as if not to startle a wild animal. She slowly reached for his shoulder.

"Jaune talk to me." He put the can down.

"She's gone." He said absent-mindedly looking at the machine.

She refused to give up hope. Yes, she was in a coma, she may not wake up, but she was still alive, which meant there was still so form of hope. She entwined her arm around his. It wasn't good for him to be out here like this. She led him to the lounge and guided him to the sofa.

"She's gone." He whispered.

"Jaune talk to me." She said gently, entwining her arm around his own.

"It was just the other day. We had a moment, and now... now..." He broke down, quietly sobbing. "She's going to die..." With that, he let out all of the tension that had built up.

Pyrrha guided his head onto her shoulder. Right now, she had to be his rock, his foundation. She unwrapped her arm and draped around her shoulder, bringing him closer. She could feel his tears soak into her shirt.

She rubbed his should, feeling him shuddering, "ShhSshhShhh... It's going to be alright. It isn't over yet." her voice was gentle and full of sincerity. "She's still with us."

"You heard what Raven said, she's probably not going to make it." He muttered into her shoulder.

"Probably is never a certainty, we have to hope for the best." She gently lifted his chin up, so he was looking into their eyes. "Don't give up hope, not only for your sake. Your family is going to need you to be strong, Crystal needs you to be strong."

Jaune could only nod. Why, just why did this have to happen. "I don't know if this helps, but she was also a sister to me."

"Remember when she taught me how to dance?" Jaune leaned into Pyrrha.

She gave a lighthearted chuckle. How could she not? Pyrrha watched with great amusement how Jaune stumbled his feet so many time, tripping face forward or falling flat on his butt which earned more than a few giggles from Pyrrha, Abella, Catoline, and Mabel.

She also remembered Crystal cursing when Jaune stepped on her toes which ended with Jaune apologizing profusely.

Crystal never gave up, after a few sessions, Jaune quickly caught up. If one thing could be said about Crystal, is that she never gave up when she set her mind on something. Sure she had her moments of an older sibling picking on them, but when it came down to it, she would anything for the family.

That was especially true when Mr. And Mrs. Arc had their own problems to deal with. Crystal stepped up to take care of the family, which only made her grow up faster. She had lost much of her youthful years to responsibility.

"Of course, I do, how couldn't I forget you falling on your butt," Pyrrha remembered fondly.

Jaune gave a small smile. "I wasn't as bad as you."

"Fair enough I suppose." She sat back holding his hand. "You remember how Crystal made that quadruple chocolate cake for my birthday?"

To be honest, no one knew Pyrrha's birthday, so Mr. Arc had asked her what day she would want. She picked the day she found him, as a reminder of the kind-hearted family that took her in. On her fifteenth birthday, Crystal spent four hours baking a massive chocolate cake, with chocolate chips, cream, and icing.

"It was the best cake I've ever had." Jaune could remember the delicious cake. "It was too much for Abella... she wouldn't go to sleep."

Pyrrha smiled. "Oh yes, she just wouldn't fall asleep until Crystal had her drink warm milk."

"Crystal was great." Jaune said slightly saddened.

"Is." Pyrrha corrected. "Miracles can always happen."

Jaune smiled. Maybe she was right, maybe faith was all that was needed. Regardless, he would have to pick up the pieces, be the glue of the family, it's what Crystal would have wanted. When the others woke up, he would have to help them, he also knew he wouldn't have to do it alone, Pyrrha would be there every step of the way, something he wouldn't understand, but what was truly grateful.

"Pyrrha?"

She looked at him somewhat questioningly.

"Thank you for everything. You're the best."

She looked with a small smile and slight redness in her cheeks. "Anytime Jaune." She squeezed his hand.

* * *

"Raven, you can't leave." Qrow blocked her way arms crossed.

"They don't need me here. I'm just a reminder of how I failed." She countered.

"Stop it. That isn't the case, it was out of our hands." Qrow insisted.

"You stop. It was in our hands, my hands the moment Ozpin sent us in. Look at what it cost us, cost them!" Raven clenched her fist. Qrow quickly grabbed Crimson Wing from his sister. She didn't expect her own weapon to be yanked out of her hand by her own brother.

"You know they that is not what they think! Stop being so damn harsh on yourself."

Raven gave her brother her the darkest scowl he had ever seen. For once in his life, he felt threatened by his own sister.

"I will hunt them all down. I will kill each one of those bastards. I will make them pay for everything they did to us. I will do it with or without your help. Now give me my weapon. I won't ask again." Her tone was extremely dark and menacing. Qrow couldn't believe this directed at him.

"Raven. please be patient, we can work this ou..." He felt a fist connect from underneath his jaw. He felt his own legs being swept from underneath him.

She towered over as she reached for her weapon. Qrow grabbed her and yanked with all his might, pulling Raven to the ground. As she crashed into the ground, Qrow managed to roll away and get back to his feet. Raven got up and charged her brother. She grabbed his arm and flung him up against the wall with a deafening slam. She quickly followed it up with a knee to the gut of a dazed Qrow. He grunted in pain as he fell to the ground holding on to Crimson Wing.

"What the hell is going on here?" Both of them looked to see an angry and irate John.

Raven backed off immediately. She realized what she had done. She actually attacked her own brother. She had never done that in all of their time together. The guilt was flooding in now. She never used violence against Qrow except now. What was happening to her?

"A simple disagreement," Qrow said with a slight grimace of pain.

"A disagreement that ended up with you beating the living crap out of each other?!"John stood in between the two Branwens. However Qrow looked too confused, and Raven, well she looked awful. "Would someone please fill me I'm with you two. For as long as I known you two, you never fought like this at all."

"I.." Raven couldn't manage it.

"It was my fault." Qrow raised his hand casually. "I provoked her."

Raven straightened herself up, she felt the eyes of her brother on her, but couldn't. "It was my fault. I threatened him, he was only trying to help me, and I lashed out."

John facepalmed, shaking his head in disappointment. "And over what?"

"Raven wanted to leave because she thinks that she is just a reminder of failing you. She was going to go out hunt the Legion down." He glared at her. "And probably get herself killed in the process." She bore into him with the most hostile glare she could muster.

"I would not..."

"In your condition, yes, yes you would." Qrow countered.

"ENOUGH," John shouted ending the petty squabbling. His tone dropped. "I've had a long long loooonnggg day. I had to deal with almost losing my family..."

"I know. That was my..." She said sullenly.

"Raven, shut up." John said as he glared at her. She immediately shrank away as if a timid animal. "Let me finish..."

He regained his composure I had to deal with almost losing my family. I will not allow another family to be torn apart." He walked over to Qrow wrapping his arm around his shoulder

"Qrow, you love your sister, that's admirable, but sometimes you can't force change on people when you think they need it... Even if they do..." He looked towards Raven as he headed over towards her. He did the same gesture with her.

"Raven. Nothing you could ever do would make me turn my back on you. I understand the need to take responsibility for your actions and that is admirable, but don't turn it into a fault. This wasn't your fault. I don't blame you, so you have no reason to blame yourself. Stop being so dang harsh on yourself, take a vacation, you've earned it." Raven looked at him uncertainly and nodded.

John stood in between the two. "Hug it out."

Raven hesitated as Qrow rubbed his arm awkwardly. Raven stepped up as Qrow did. The distance was short but felt like the stretch Raven had ever crossed.

They wrapped arms around each other. "Qrow."

"It's fine."

"I'm so sorry..."

"It's fine. Nothing to forgive."

"I am so sorry." She buried her face into her younger brother's shoulder. "I've been such a bad sister."

"Really Raven, you're fine. Listen." He saw her crimson eyes meet his. "I'll help you hunt down those bastards, let's just be smart about it, alright?"

"Thank you." She smiled warmly at her sibling. She thought it was rather impressive how he could easily forgive and forget, something she could never really do.

All while this was happening, the three adults failed to notice a pair of emerald and sapphire eyes watching the whole exchange.

"I have never seen them fight like that," Pyrrha whispered.

"I hope we never have to," Jaune replied back

"I don't think we need to worry about that."

 **A/N**

 **Hi guys! Welcome back!**

 **So I can say that this Arc will end in two more chapters. You know what that means….. BEACON! WOOOOOOOOO!**

 **So I want to clarify somethings. I know this Arc was really heavy on Raven, to be honest, I enjoy writing her as a character, and I hope I could make her believable and relatable in this story. That being said, next story is going to focus less on her, and more on the Pyrrha and Jaune and their team…. I'm changing up teams cause reasons. Sorry, but not sorry.**

 **We will also being looking into who the Legion of Ash are, what their true goals are, and who is really behind this boogy man, cause let me tell you…. Wait until you meet the real bad guys behind the Legion...**

 **One more chapter till Beacon time.**

 **If you like the chapter please leave follow, fav, pm, and/or review. It helps me tremendously. I love to see what you guys think, any and all feedback, questions, reactions, suggestions, predictions, all that stuff is good!**

 **Thank you**

 **-Lordxsaur** on


	19. Chapter 19: Moving On

**Chapter 19- Moving On**

 **-Important A/N, YOUR opinions are wanted!**

* * *

'People rise against the leadership! You think you are free! You think that the huntsmen serve to protect you? They run the governments, they run the military, they run the economy. Look at Atlas! It will only be a matter of time until the three kingdoms are subjugated! Break away from the yoke of the Huntsmen! Take back your kingdoms! Death to the traitors of humanity!' Ozpin hit the pause button. Another protester in Mistral, they seemed to be causing more problems after the bombing at the Atlesian Embassy, which was a response to a riot in Atlas that burned down the Mistralian district, all because of the Vytal Festival.

The tension between the two kingdoms had crossed over to the other two kingdoms. Vale and Vacuo began to rearm their token armies, all in the name of protecting against external and internal threats. This had to be apart of the Legion of Ash's plan, but what was their end goal?

* * *

"I hate sand," Qrow complained. "Have I ever said that before? Cause I really hate sand." Qrow took off his shoes and emptied a fair amount of sand from his shoes.

"Yes. In fact, you have... For the thirty-eighth time." Raven pinched the bridge of her nose. They had made their report to Ozpin who was currently planning their next move. As of now, they had some free time.

The mission was a success with Raven and Qrow finding the underground entrance, dispatching a few guards, unfortunately killing the commander at the post, and initiating the self-destruct sequence, then finally delivering their report to Ozpin with a few Legion documents.

Qrow opened a portal and gestured for his sister to go through.

They were rifted into Qrow's humble but rather spacious apartment.

"Oh wow." Raven admired as she walked around the living room with an 'L' sofa lined up to face the flat screen t.v. She walked over to something that caught her attention, admiring a rather ornate katana and a familiar set of armor with the same crest as Raven's.

Qrow, in the meantime, was busy finishing cleaning the grime of himself. "Sorry, I forgot this is your first time here. Make yourself comfortable. You need anything?"

"No. No, I'm fine." It had to be her armor. It was too familiar.

Qrow came in with two large glasses of water. He watched his sister as her eyes slowly met his. "Is that her armor?"

"No, I had a set like her's made," Qrow noted casually. Raven clenched her fist angrily. Why couldn't her mother just stay dead? "Why?"Raven asked darkly.

"To remind me where I-We came from."

"You're honoring the memory of a long dead abusive mother. There was nothing worthy to remind yourself with." She retorted hotly, taking a drink before she said something she would regret.

"Maybe, but I like to think that she was trying to prepare us."

She started coughing spewing water all over him. "Gross." He muttered, wiping the water off of his face as Raven gave him an apologetic look. "I'm sorry Qrow, but I can't believe that. She was a terrible and neglectful mother, that's the end." Must run in the family she thought to herself.

"I'm not going to start anything on this but fair enough." He looked at his scroll. "I was going to head out; Tiayang said he needs help setting up for the party."

Raven nodded, looking away as she rubbed her arm nervously. "Can you just tell Yang that I am so proud of her."

She could feel his eyes bore into him. "It would be better if you were actually there..."

Raven knew he was right. "I..."

"Can't, I know, it's fine. If you want, I can record it so you can watch."

It wasn't the same as actually being there in person, but it would have to do. "Thank you."

Qrow went to his room to find the most appropriate clothes he could muster. He settled on a crisp black polo, red tie, and black dress pants.

While he was picking his wardrobe, Raven had decided to get a shower. It had been a long day... Well, a long year. She was out every night Hunting the Legion, searching for any kind of clue to their main objective, their next move. She occasionally watched over the Arcs.

She smiled at how well Jaune was picking up the pieces where Crystal left off. She was in stable condition but still no signs of waking up. The family made it a habit to visit once a week, however, John and Joan practically lived at the hospital.

That was where Jaune came in. He started to watch over the girls. He made their meals, washed their clothes, helped them with homework even though he was the second youngest. While managing school, spending time with his sisters, and training. She was thoroughly impressed.

Then there was Pyrrha. Still, the shy humble girl she was, she helped Jaune with everything being a constant source of strength that he could rely on when he was feeling down and out. Such optimism was a good thing that Raven had wished she had. For as long as she recalled, all her life she was on the run from something, the Legion, her family, herself. It wasn't until she contacted Qrow, and with the Arcs that she started to drag herself out of the pit of despair, and as she was making progress, she would be dragged down by self-obsessiveness of perfection that was unreachable. She was a failure.

'No stop.' She mentally chided herself as she washed her proud black mane of hair. 'As long as I am fully committed, that's all that matters.'

Or was it? When will you realize that you let everyone down?

'No, That isn't true. I have friends who depend on me.' She countered back.

depend on you? That's a joke. Just remember Crystal.

"The Arcs don't blame me."She muttered to herself, trying to banish these dark thoughts.

Yang. The voice said

Raven froze. Yes, Yang, you let her down. You failed her as a mother. You failed Taiyang as a wife. You failed Qrow as a brother. You failed Summer as a partner. You have failed. You ARE a failure.

She slammed her fist along the shower wall. 'Not anymore. I'm done being a failure. I'm done being a letdown. I will make things right, starting tonight.' She shut off the faucet, dried herself off and dressed. When she came out, she noticed that Qrow was gone with a very poorly written note.

'Hey, Rae, like I said, get comfortable. They're food and drinks in the fridge. Stay away from my milkshake machine though :). Help yourself to the tv, living in a cave tends not to help with staying up to date on current affairs... or entertainment.'

She couldn't help but smile, her brother always knew how to push her buttons to make her want to hurt him while laugh. A strange combo. She looked at her scroll and decided she had enough time to get a quick bite to eat.

She scoured through the cupboards and fridge looking for something semi-healthy to eat. Not surprisingly, all junk food, he even had a milkshake machine. Wow, he wasn't kidding... She couldn't help to chuckle at her brother's strange addiction to the sugary ice milk.

She settled with ramen noodles as she went to the living room and flicked on the tv. Another Atlesian riot turned violent at the Mistralian Embassy after the headmaster of Haven refused to step down after the bombings.

Another report was that nine more suspected terrorist hunters were arrested in Vale today. A shame that paranoia was so high today.

'In other news, A peaceful White Fang protest turned violent as several of its member assaulted Mistralian police officers, killing three and injuring two.'

The White Fang? Violent? What was Remnant coming to? It was always seen as a force for good. It was supposed to be an organization that was expected to promote equality and respect between Faunas and Humans, and now some of them actively attacked law enforcement?

Having been filled with enough depressing news, she turned the tv off and pulled out her scroll. It was time. She grabbed her odachi and opened a portal in the living room.

* * *

"Yang Xiao-Long." The fiery blonde dragon stood up, her yellow gown billowing down. She was rather annoyed that her cap wouldn't fit due to her glorious hair. That being said, she had to make due as she walked down the aisle. Four years. Four years of training, sweat, and blood led her to this exact moment.

She had taken the entrance exam for Beacon and passed with an average score, her combat test she got a higher than usual score. They had accepted her, the one thing she had to do now was take the diploma. She took it into her hands as she shook the hand of Signal's headmaster. It was done.

She took her hand and fist pumped in the air. A bird flew over the stadium, perching itself over a stadium light.

A few more minutes and the ceremony was complete. Yang was happy. All of her hard work paid off. Now it was time to kick back and enjoy some time with family. Without a mother... Well, way to be a mood kill Yang thought to herself.

She headed through the campus towards a small little park. "Qwaaaaaaaaa." Yang looked up to see a slighter larger than usual raven fly by her and towards a tree in the park. There at the park, as agreed was Dad, Ruby, and Qrow.

"Yang!" Ruby flashed over covering the area in rose petals. With Ruby discovering her semblance, she could barely keep up with her sister. She hit Yang like a train, wrapping her arms around her older sister. However, Yang was an immovable object. "Ruby!" She returned the favor by locking her younger sister in an unyielding bear hug.

She released her sister and tossed her hat. "So much better." She ran her fingers through her luscious blonde mane of hair.

"They grow up so quick." Taiyang chuckled looking on at his two daughters by a tree.

"That they do. I remember as if it was yesterday when we were at Beacon."

"How Ozpin picked us up from that bullhead." Taiyang shook his head with a smile

"Lucky us we didn't have to go through combat school." Qrow chuckled. "Things were simpler back then."

"I wish our team was back together." Taiyang sighed "Between Raven disappearing and Summer gone... I feel like I could have done something more..." He looked over to Qrow placing a hand on his partner's shoulder. "Thank you so much, for everything."

Qrow smirked. "What can I say? I'm the best." He looked back at his long time blonde friend. "Do you hold it against her?" His smile slowly fading away.

"Hold what against who?" Tai raised an eyebrow.

"Raven leaving."

"No, I couldn't, I wanted too... for so long... but I just couldn't. Even if it did hurt, she must have had a good reason." Taiyang sighed, it was clear he had come to terms with everything.

"I'm surprised." Qrow and Taiyang turned around to face an older version of Yang but with black hair and red eyes.

Qrow raises his eyebrow. Taiyang took several steps back, eyes wide with shock, jaw dropped

"I knew that was you up in the air circling above Yang when she was called up." Qrow smirked. He was proud of his sister, but this was a whole new level with Taiyang. She just nodded solemnly.

"Raven...?" Taiyang said as his throat clenched up. "Is... That you really you...?" There was no anger in his voice, more disbelief, and longing in his voice.

She took a gentle step forward "Tai. I'm so sorry about Summer."

He nodded, speechless. "I understand if you don't want to see me, for what I've put you and Yang through, I get it." She looked at the ground rubbing her arm. She tried to hide the heartache, the pain in her voice.

"Raven I have always loved you and will continue to do so." Taiyang confessed. "I won't lie, I was crushed, bad, and I was angry... so incredibly angry." He shook his head. "After things settled down, Summer calmed me down and helped me see that if you left, it must have been a good reason."

Raven looked at him with a small smile, same old Taiyang. "I want to come back, I really do, but I need to take care of some things first."

"I figure it has something to do with Tarce's people." Taiyang guessed

"Even though he's dead, the Legion is still very much alive, stronger than ever. I need to stop this... I don't want put you or Yang in danger." Raven's eyes lit up with a fiery vengeance.

"I know better then try to stop you." He moved up and wrapped his arm around his first wife. "Just please be careful. We want you to come home."

She embraced him. It was one of the most uplifting moments that Raven had ever had. The love of her life still accepted her. Now one more challenge. Yang.

"You want to congratulate her?" Taiyang asked. Raven nodded slowly.

"Yang could you come over here." Yang turned around her eyes looked over to her dad, mom, and Qrow. Wait... Mom...?

Raven took a few steps forward mirror what Yang was doing. "Mom? Is that really you?"

Yang walked out. Her mind in shock. What was she doing here? She wanted to be pissed, she wanted to yell at her for leaving her, abandoning dad. With each footstep she took, each one of those emotions faded away until mother and daughter were united.

"Yang." She ran her fingers through her hair. Yang normally would have decked the person who dared touch her hair. Very few had that privilege. Well now so did her mother. "I have missed you so much." Her voice trembled, her throat constricting. "I'm so proud of you. So incredibly proud."

"Thanks for coming Mom." Yang would have been pissed. Her mother left her for years, and she didn't bother to stay in contact. This one moment, though, helped to bridge that gap between mother and daughter

"I love you so much." Raven placed her hands on her shoulders, a genuine smile

"Aunt Raven!" Ruby sped over grasping both of them. Raven was startled at the little rose's speed, but the saying like mother like daughter must have been true. Even her open and friendly attitude was that of Summer's. But Aunt Raven? It made her sound old, under normal circumstances, she would have disputed that title. However, she held her tongue, she rather enjoyed the title. "Ruby. It is so good to see you too. You've grown so big." She looked at the two girls embracing her. So this is what it was to be a mother? Maybe it wasn't too late for her. "We have a lot of catching up to do."

"Are you staying with us now?" Ruby asked giving puppy dog eyes.

"Not yet. I've got to do some things first."

Yang frowned as Ruby gave sad "Awwww."

"It doesn't mean I have to leave right this instant. Come now." She sat on the grass followed by Yang and Ruby, wrapping an arm around her daughter and another around her niece. "We've got a lot catch up on."

Qrow and Taiyang smiled.

"Did you know?" Taiyang asked.

"Know what?" Qrow raised his eyebrow.

"That she would be here."

"Honestly, I didn't."

* * *

Jaune fidgeted with his tie while sitting in the hospital room. Pyrrha kept on insisting that he looked fine, but Jaune would disagree. He hated ties, they were death traps waiting to strangle the life out of poor unsuspecting fools.

Satisfied with his tie, he sat back down beside his sister. "Hey, Crystal." He whispered, "Me and Pyrrha are graduating today." He gave a small chuckle. "Can you believe it because I can't." He took her hand gave a squeeze "I... I... Wish you were here with us."

"She is always with us." Catoline stepped forward placing a hand on her brother's shoulder. Her crisp green Valesian uniform pressed and hair tied up in a military regulation bun.

Catoline was always a rebel rouser in the family. Quick to speak up, quick to act without her counterpart sister, Mabel. However, she always she wanted to do more with her life. She had thought about becoming a hunter but decided against it, she needed, wanted a more regimented, more rigid system in her life. When it was announced that the Valesian military was starting to recruit in record numbers, she was the first to sign up. She wanted to bring honor to her family her own way. She hasn't regretted it. She had just completed her basic training and was now considered a member of the Valesian Reserve.

"She is proud of you, she doesn't need to say that." Mabel looked up from her book. "As we all are." She smiled before going back to her book. Mabel, always a quiet, wise one. She was the opposite of Catoline, more collected, calm, and formal. She had taken the year off to prepare for the medical entrance exams, her dream being a doctor. Without a question, she was the smartest in the family. She knew right from a young age that she wanted to help people, and to her, the best way was by becoming a doctor.

"I miss her too." Abella lamented. It had hit her the hardest. Abella was a sophomore. Nothing too impressive, she had calmed down quite a lot since her youth. She, however, was still outwardly hostile to strangers, which didn't earn that many friends. But the few friends she did have were extremely close.

"We'll have a lot to tell her when she wakes up." Pyrrha remained cheerful.

'If' Jaune mentally corrected her.

"Alright guys, we're going get going, we have to be at the school to line up." Jaune stood up and stretched. He bent over and kissed Crystal on the head. "Tell Mom and Dad that we'll see them down there."

"Will do!" Abella waved them off.

They walked out of the hospital where Jaune was still picking his tie. Pyrrha gave a slight giggle and stopped in front of him. "Hold still, I'll do it for you."

"Thanks." Jaune felt relieved as Pyrrha took hold of the tie and deftly untied it and retied it. Jaune smiled watching his friend. He honestly couldn't have imagined life without her. She was always there for no matter what. She meant the world to him as he knew him to her.

"Now you look like a handsome gentleman." Pyrrha chuckled. Jaune sputtered at the thought. Handsome? Handsome, she was just joking, right? Right. She didn't mean anything by it. Quick think of something.

"Well, you look gorgeous." He wasn't lying. She wore a free flowing white dress hung just below the knees. It showed off her rather impressive and if he dared to admit attractive physique. Stop thinking that, he reprimanded himself. It was inappropriate.

Pyrrha looked away feeling a blush slowly coming into her face. She put some distance in between herself and Jaune. "Thank you Jaune." She smiled, truly flattered by the compliment.

Quickly breaking the awkward silence, Jaune switched topic. "How did you learn how to do that?"

"Hmm?"

"Tie a tie."

"Your mother. She often said if you want to keep a man calm and quiet, you should learn how to tie ties." She chuckled. "I see it was rather effective."

"I'm not that much of a complainer..."

She raised her eyebrow.

"I'm not..."

"..."

"I am..."

Pyrrha let out a light-hearted giggle. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be picking on you."

"Yeah, you're absolutely right." Jaune mock pouted.

At that made their way to the school. Whitehall High School was a small school by any comparison, they were going to be ninety-eight students graduating this year so line and the presenting of awards would not take too terribly long.

* * *

"Jaune Arc." Jaune stood up with a confident smile, he looked back to see a smiling Pyrrha giving him a thumbs up. He made it all because of her.

He walked up the stage and took the diploma.

After taking his seat and listening to a few more names, Pyrrha was next.

"Pyrrha Nikos." Pyrrha stood up, slightly nervous although there was nothing to be nervous about. She walked past Jaune who gave her a reassuring smile which she returned in kind.

She took the diploma and returned to her seat. So many years led to this point. She, however, regretted none of the time spent with the Arcs, spent with Jaune

After a few more names had been called, the ceremony was concluded.

Pyrrha and Jaune didn't have a problem finding each other. They embraced each other shouting "We did it!"

"Can you believe it?" Jaune grinned.

"Not at all," Pyrrha smiled back.

"You two should get a room." Catoline jogged up to them followed by Mabel and Abella, the parents following behind.

Everyone had their turn wishing congratulations to the two and Abella initiating a group hug. "What do you say we get some food?" John suggested.

To Jaune and Pyrrha's surprise when the two reached inside there were decorations, food, and drinks galore with a rather impressive three tier chocolate and raspberry cake

"Thank you guys." Pyrrha held her hands I front of herself in humility "but you didn't have to go this far..."

"Nonsense." Mabel went for the massive tray of cookies first. "It's a special occasion. You two deserve it."

The party carried well into the evening with everyone eating and carrying on with merriment and carefree. Needing some time to think and seeing how people were too busy talking to one another, Pyrrha made her way to the outside porch. She rested her arms on the railing, looking out towards horizon.

She looked up to the stars "I hope you're proud of me." She whispered sadly.

"Who?" Pyrrha didn't need to turn around to figure out who it was. Jaune leaned on the railing. "I got you some cake,"

Pyrrha smiled and took it, but looked out towards the distance.

"My parents." Her answer was brief but soaked with sadness.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that," Jaune reassured her squeezing her hand.

"I just wish they were here."

"They are."

Pyrrha looked Jaune.

"They might not be here with you. But they will always be with you, in spirit."

Pyrrha smiled. It lightened her mood. She took a bite of the cake. "Wow... This is really good..." Her eyes widened.

"I know. That's the last piece too..." Jaune gave the dire news.

"What?! There was a lot of cake..." Pyrrha whipped her head around.

Jaune only needed to say "Abella..."

Pyrrha erupted in a contagious laughter that still captivated Jaune. He was amazed at how such a person could still laugh at everything. He also had to admit, it was kinda cute.

Pyrrha shook her head. "I still don't know she can eat so much. She's worse than you."

Jaune puffed out his cheeks and crossed his arms. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

The redhead facepalmed, not knowing if he was being serious or not. "Jaune you ate two whole extra large pizzas by yourself in one sitting."

He chuckled with a grin. "And I'll have you know it was the best pizza."

"I wouldn't know, you ate it all," Pyrrha playfully shot back.

Jaune was about to retort when he realized there was no point. "Checkmate." Pyrrha smirk grew larger.

"QWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAA." A rather large bird swooped down and perched itself on the railing. Pyrrha and Jaune looked at each other.

"Raven?" Pyrrha asked. The bird cocked its head.

It suddenly morphed into the human they had known for a long time.

"Hey, there you two." She brought them into a hug. "It's good to see you. I'm sorry I wasn't able to make it to the ceremony."

She broke up the hug, looking somewhat apologetic.

"Ah don't worry about it, it wasn't anything special." Jaune brushed off her concern with a smile.

"Still." She reached out for her belt and pulled out two envelopes. She handed one to each them. "And before I forget." She reached for her odachi and opened a portal.

Jaune and Pyrrha looked at each other than at the envelope then back at each other.

"Any idea?" Pyrrha asked. Jaune shrugged.

Raven emerged carrying a wooden box. She sat it down in front of Pyrrha and went through the portal to only appear shortly after with another box placed in front of Jaune.

With that, the portal closed. She leaned on the railing. "Well, you don't need my permission, go ahead."

They eagerly opened the envelope to discover a letter that was addressed to the perspective individual. Their jaws dropped.

"No way..." Jaune muttered under his breath.

"Raven..." Pyrrha looked at black haired huntress who was smiling knowingly. Pyrrha darted at Raven almost tackling the other woman. She was followed by Jaune.

"You're the best." Jaune said with a smile.

"Thank you so much!" Pyrrha beamed.

Raven was flattered by their sincerity, but it was the least she could do for the two. They had worked hard, they had the motivation, they had a purpose.

"You two worked hard. It's the least I could do." She patted their heads. "Maybe open the boxes?" She suggested. The two broke away with affectionate smiles.

Pyrrha opened her box to find a set of armor, from the looks of it, it appeared to be a bronze corset, a belt with a few pouches, an arm guard, and a pair of greaves, armored heels, and finally, a crimson sash with a metal circular disc with her crest embroidered on it.

"That was the same armor style your mother wore," Raven explained. "It might have been awhile since I had seen the armor, but I think I got it right."

"It's beautiful, truly." Pyrrha held the armor in reverence. Raven beamed with delight that she enjoyed it.

"I'm glad you like it." Raven said humbly. She then looked to Jaune expectantly. His eyes were wide as saucers as he pulled a cuirass with pauldrons. "Raven... You didn't have to..."

Raven chuckled. It was good to see them this happy. They earned a little bit happiness in their life and she was more than glad to provide that happiness.

"Come on in. Everyone would wanna say hi... and there's food." Jaune started to yank on her arm.

The older hunter's stomach growled to the amusement of Pyrrha and Jaune.

"Oh alright." She relented, shaking her head but with a small smile.

"Hey guys, look at what the cat dragged in!" Jaune announced with a large grin. Slightly annoyed with that comment but she let it slide with an inward smile as she made her way in.

Everyone cheered Raven with Joan and John wrapping arms around their old friend.

"It's been awhile," John grinned

"Always aloof as ever." Joan chimed in.

Raven felt a pang of guilt. For the most part, it was true. She had been on hunts throughout Remnant, working tirelessly on ending the threat of Legion. However, there was little progress, scratch that, the campaign wasn't going anywhere. It wasn't until the past week that she was able to settle down a little bit. She had been spending more time with Qrow, she was able to see her daughter and step-niece if she wanted to be politically correct, and bring some closure to Taiyang. Now she was here, and things started to look up for the Branwen, honorary Arc, and maybe Xiao-Long, depending on how things continue. She could only guess, though. However, it was time to focus on the here and now.

"Weird huh?" Jaune sat down beside Pyrrha who was taking it in silently.

She looked over with a raised eyebrow.

"For as long as we have known each other, we've been beside each other, through thick and thin, we can always come back here and watch our family come together."

Pyrrha nodded in agreement, an affectionate smile creeping on her face. "Your family is truly blessed."

"Our family." He wrapped an arm around her and brought her into a hug which caused the two teens to blush, but neither broke away.

* * *

 ***Undisclosed Underground Location***

In a pristine white room with a large oak table sat twelve individuals in black robes, all of them wearing nevermore masks. At one the end of a table stood a tall, slender man hooded. He wore a Nevermore mask just like his fellow compatriots, except one difference. It was charred. In his hand, he carried a staff with a small red jewel fixed on top.

"The White Fang have started to become restless with the lack of progress." One Nevermore reported.

"Indeed, there are rumors of inner turmoil, a new leader seeks to replace old and corrupt leadership." Another Nevermore reported.

"Gentleman." The charred Nevermore spoke up. "I believe it is time to launch Operation Fang's Embrace." He tapped his staff on the floor

"I want to introduce my protege." The door opened to reveal another hooded figure was wearing a red robe. Her bright amber eyes shown through her mask. She will be leading the operation."

"Thank you, Master Tarce." She bowed before the tall charred nevermore.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Alright guys! I got some stuff first:**

 **OPINION TIME!**

 **I am debating on ending Shattered here having the Beacon Arc a separate, official sequel story (cause it is going to be covering a long long long time)... or we could just keep going. Either way is fine with me, but I figure I'd let you guys decide. So let me know what you think. Leave a pm or review and let me know! Also** **: If you guys enjoyed the chapter, please let us know. We love to hear from all of you, special shout out to Wes217, patleon909, and Overdude12! Love seeing you guys review, love your suggestions and feedback, it means the world. Anywho, if you liked the chapter, thought it was meh, or didn't like it, let us know. Got reactions, predictions, questions, anything at all, please feel free to let us know, it's always an inspiration to see your comments. I am practically begging to know if you guys are enjoying. Even if you thought it was meh, please let us know. It really helps me gauge where we are with you guys. It truly means the world to me, I am more then willing to answer any and all questions.**

 **Next: I want to give a huge shout out to Shaded122 for being the amazing editor dude person that he is. He has truly been incredibly helpful! *You may clap now cause I am* But for real... I got some news... He's started his own story called Wilting Rose, it's pretty good, it's Sauron Approved, so give it a read if you are so inclined.**

 **Next: Hey I'm going to be streaming stuff starting this Sunday, stop on by, say hi, watch me fail at games, chat with me, I wanna meet some of my readers xD head over to , lordxsauronx15. Sunday I'll be starting my Halo 1-5 campaign earlier now... I'm hoping around 3-4 EST. We'll see. Beyond that, I'll streaming randomly throughout the week, but will most definitely be streaming Friday and Saturday morning.**

 **Finally: Cause I'm starting Grad School (which I am actually really going to have a lot of fun with), my time for writing will be limited, I ask that you be patient about this, cause I'll be doing more academic writing... (which I kinda love lol.) That being said, Shattered will be slightly delayed as I'm trying to build a backlog for it... so I'd say another two weeks until an official upload on Shattered.**

 **Shaded - Side note. I may be an editor however I am not perfect at it and I'm aware of that. So if you notice any errors in the story that get past me please let me know via PM or Review on this story (as I do pay attention to the reviews for this story) and I'll make sure to do a better job of looking out for similar mistakes in the future.**


	20. Beacon 1: Acceptance

**Chapter 20: Acceptance**

 **Note to Readers at end**

* * *

"Hey sis." Jaune wore his new armor while Pyrrha wore hers with her traditional headpiece. "We're going to Beacon today."

"Don't worry I'll keep him out of trouble." Pyrrha chimed in happily resting a reassuring hand on Jaune's shoulder.

"I... I..." The tightening in his throat becoming even stronger. A moment of silence passed through the air. It's been a year, the doctor had claimed that they didn't expect her to come out of the comma. They urged they cut off life support. Jaune and Pyrrha argued with the doctors to the point where they attack the doctor. It required that John and Joan held them back while the doctors scurried away from two massively pissed off teenagers. It came to a unanimous decision, Crystal would stay on life support. If she was still alive, there might be a chance.

Jaune cleared his throat. Now was the time to be strong. "I wish..." He steeled himself. "You could be here to see us." Pyrrha solemnly nodded.

"If anything happens, we'll let you know." Catoline stepped up, hugging her siblings. Jaune smiled. "And Pyrrha, you're going to be turning some heads while you're down there." Catoline looked over the redhead in her new armor that enhanced her already flattering feminine physique. Pyrrha blushed at the compliment, awkwardly rubbing her arm, unsure as how to feel.

"Try to not to fail out." Mabel chimed in from her ever-present book. "And Pyrrha."

Pyrrha looked at the diminutive book smart Arc. "Don't let him fail out."

Pyrrha giggled and nodded in agreement. "I wouldn't dream of it."

Abella was still hanging on to Jaune waist. "I'm going to miss both of you."

"Oh we won't be gone for too long." Pyrrha patted her head, and when we come back, we'll take you to your favorite ice cream place." Abella grinned with satisfaction. The two said their final goodbyes and left the room. Down the hall, Raven was waiting for them talking to their parents. She seemed to be in much higher spirits than usual.

Red eyes locked on them. Jaune and Pyrrha joined the trio of adults.

"Hey guys, excited?" Raven asked with a genuine smile. They both nodded. "Well I have a favor to ask."

"Sure."

"Anything."

The smile lessened up. "There might be a chance you run into my daughter, Yang, and my..." She hesitated, with conflicting emotions running across her face. "niece... Ruby. It is very important that you don't say anything about me… and I mean anything. Do you think you can do that?"

They both looked at each other, an odd request, but the least we could do.

"Raven?" Pyrrha voice came out shy. The older huntress hummed in response. "Mmm?"

"Will we ever see you again?"

Raven chuckled. "Oh yes, how could I ever forget about all of you? You're all family too me. I'll be around." She gave each one a hug. "Remember, I'm always watching." She drew her katana and cut a portal through thin air vanish away/

"Well, I guess we should get you two going." John sounded as reached for the sword on his side. He undid the belt and handed him the sword the reverently. "Jaune, it is about time I pass this on to you. Let me say, I am so proud of you, I would have no one else carry this blade." Jaune reached out and strapped it around his waist. "Remember to carry yourself with dignity and respect with that blade. That blade is the embodiment of all we Arcs stand for." The older arc looked at the redhead.

"Pyrrha I've watched you grow. You've come a far way. I am absolutely sure that your parents would be proud. I just hope I did them justice." Pyrrha embraced John tightly. "Thank you for everything Mr. Arc." Her voice struggling to maintain composure as he embraced back.

Joan joined in. "You two have grown up so fast. I'm so incredibly proud of both of you!" For a moment, the four of them were in an embrace that Pyrrha would always cherish. For all time froze, this was the moment where she finally found peace. Even after losing so much, so many people getting hurt around her, she found something she always wanted. Acceptance.

* * *

After saying their final good-byes, they boarded their airship to their new home. Beacon.

Pyrrha and Jaune elected to sit in the back of the airship. If Jaune had an episode of airsickness, he would prefer it not to be in front of his future classmates. Pyrrha hummed to herself while rubbed Jaune's back in an attempt to relieve his airsickness.

Jaune's stomach lurched up and down as it protested being on the flying machine of death. He doubled over, holding his stomach. Pyrrha handed him a bag just in case.

"Pyrrha." He took the bag. "I hate flying….."

Jaune stood up steeling his nerves and trying to hold his lunch down.

He stood up and wearily made his way to the bathroom.

Fate had other plans. The airship thudded with a large jolt hitting unexpected turbulence. Jaune fell to the ground and with it, his stomach.

His breakfast came out on spraying a pair of tan boots. Oh shit. The boots were tapping the ground. Jaune looked up to see a surprised blonde with a wild mane of hair that cascaded down her back. Her lilac eyes filled with surprise, disgust, her eyes suddenly flashed red, as red as Raven's and Qrow's.

"Uhh sorry." He muttered through gritted teeth, still feeling queasy.

"Sorry? SORRY?!" Her voice would have been lovely if it wasn't filled with the desire to kill him. She picked Jaune by the scruff of his hoodie. "These are…. were my favorite pair of boots." She said darkly.

Pyrrha looked up to see Jaune on the ground clutching his stomach while a rather flashy blonde towered over him. She quickly darted up and moved over to the two.

"Excuse me..." Pyrrha stepped in. Fiery crimson eyes locked onto the redhead. "He apologized, it was an accident."

That only made the blonde upset, even more, raising the temperature on the ship. "An apology won't scrub my boots clean."

"Yang! Come on now! I'll wash them if it's such a big deal!" A small girl with brunette hair with red tips said. "Gah!" The blonde yelped in surprise as the smaller girl latched onto her arm. The blonde blinked, her eyes changing from crimson back to lilac.

She instantly dropped Jaune. Without saying a word, Yang stormed off. The brunette looked at Jaune and Pyrrha. "Uhh... Sorry bout that... She gets fidgety when it comes to clothing." She ran after the blonde.

"First day and you almost die." Pyrrha patted Jaune on the back.

"Have to make good first impressions somehow." He grinned, although it quickly faded as the queasiness took root yet again.

The airship docked and opened itself up as Jaune darted out looking for a trashcan, Pyrrha followed behind and found him hugging onto the can for dear life.

"Let it all out." She patted his back absentmindedly. There they stood before their new home for four years and here she was rubbing his back while he continued to flush out his system. She wouldn't have it any other way she thought as she smiled to herself.

Twenty minutes or so, Jaune lifted himself up. "Feeling any better?" Pyrrha asked.

"I feel less deathish." Jaune mumbled. The two headed down the main path to the academy. They reached a courtyard and was greeted by the same black clothed with red hooded girl laying on her back mumbling to herself.

"I think we should help her." Pyrrha whispered.

"Same thought."

Jaune walked over to the girl who was muttering something along the lines of "Welcome to Beacon."

"Hey." Jaune said snapping her out of her own thoughts. "Need a hand?" He offered his hand with a warm smile.

Ruby took it gratefully. Pyrrha picked up the bag and gave I to her offering a welcoming smile.

As they walked to find their way to the auditorium, they eventually got lost, after initial greetings they introduced each other. "You would think they would have maps..." Jaune muttered.

"I think they thought that future huntsmen couldn't get lost at huntsmen academy." Ruby shook her head. "How wrong they were."

"Indeed, it is a rather big school." Pyrrha noted looking around all of the big buildings.

"Heheh." Ruby chuckled awkwardly. Out of nowhere, a giant mechanical scythe appeared in her hand as she slammed it down on the ground. "So I got this thing..."

"Holy wow! What is that thing?!" Jaune jumped back into Pyrrha who blushed at the contact.

"A scythe with a customizable high-impact sniper rifle."

"A what?" Jaune was lost.

"A really big gun." Pyrrha helped.

"Yep!" Ruby grinned as she chambered a round.

"Neat!" Jaune said in even more fascination

"Impressive." Pyrrha agreed.

The small girl fondled her scythe as if it were a child. "I might have gone overboard when I designed Crescent Rose, but no regrets."

The Arc and Nikos jaws dropped.

"What?" Ruby blinked in confusion. "Didn't you guys design your own weapons?" They both shook their heads.

Pyrrha pulled out her weapon, "This is Milo, it is a short sword, javelin, and rifle." She pointed out with each transformation "It's an…. Heirloom" She tried to mask the bit of sadness that was bubbling up.

"Cool! You have a lot options over that!" Ruby said with eyes glued on the weapon, Pyrrha just shrugged modestly. The silver eyes shifted over to the blonde. "So what do you have?"

Jaune pulled out his sword, "Just this old sword, nothing special and a sheath that turns into a shield."

"It is special though." Pyrrha reassured him. "It was a sword his great-grandfather used in the Great War. It has a rich and proud history."

Ruby nodded approvingly "Well I like it, not many people appreciate the classics."

Jaune resheathed the blade. "I suppose so." Feeling uncomfortable with the whole thing. "So uh any idea where we're at?"

Ruby looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "I thought you knew where we were going…" Jaune just shrugged.

Pyrrha pointed towards a group of students. "Well I'm sure they're going to the auditorium, we should just follow them."

"Always a quick thinker." Jaune complimented. The three followed the group to find that they were indeed in the auditorium. "We just did a complete circle…." Jaune deadpanned. The three entered the grand auditorium, which to be honest, looked more like an arena. Large groups of students were standing around talking amongst themselves.

"Heythere'smysister,I'llseeyaguyslater!" Ruby dashed off in a cloud of rose petals. Jaune looked at Pyrrha who just looked as baffled as he did. "Well, she seemed nice… if not somewhat energetic…" Jaune commented casually. Pyrrha nodded in agreement. The lights dimmed as spotlights focused on the stage.

An old man wearing a black and green suit moved up to the stage. He pushed his spectacles up to the ridge of his nose. He stepped up to the microphone, leaning on his cane. "I'll… keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge- to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose… direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

Jaune thought the Headmaster was a little cryptic at best, insane at the most. Wasn't the purpose of the school to educate them on how to become huntsmen? Wasn't that education supposed to lead them to become huntsmen? Pyrrha thought differently. It was about taking the initiative, sure knowledge will help, but taking the first step out of the gate is how you learn. You won't learn how to be huntsmen until you gain field experience. The two of them listened as his assistant, Glynda Goodwitch told them that initiation was tomorrow and that they were to sleep in the ballroom. At that, the lights turned back on. "JAUNE! PYRRHA! COME ON OVER HERE!" The voice of Ruby Rose called out to them.

The two made their way to meet the fiery blonde on the ship. "Ruby! You didn't tell me you made friends with Vomit Boy..." Yang brow furrowed. "I haven't forgotten about my boots…"

Jaune raised his hands apologetically. "I'm sorry…. But air sickness is more common than people would expect."

"Yang, I would rather you not knock out one of my only friends here…." Ruby pleaded. Yang looked at Ruby and crossed her arms and pouted.

"Fine…"

"Thank Oum…." Jaune wiped the sweat from his brow. Ruby then made introductions.

"Yang this is Jaune." She gestured at the redhead by his side. "And Pyrrha." who waved in response. Yang walked up to Jaune and placed an arm around his shoulder.

"Hey, Jaune! Buddy….. You wanna know something….?"

"Whaaaa…" Pyrrha watched the blonde girl, ready to strike if Jaune was in any danger whatsoever.

"If you ever make a move on my sister, I will end you…." Her voice was so soft but filled with resolution.

"I-I-I-I… would never…." Jaune stuttered. Ruby shook her head in embarrassment.

"I'll make sure of that." Pyrrha chimed in instinctively.

Yang put an around the redhead and pulled her in. "Awesome! We're going to get along just fine then. Right Vomit Boy?"

Jaune let out an exhausted sigh. "Yeah.. definitely…. Hey can we just get some food…." He pleaded.

* * *

"This place has everything." Yang plopped herself down beside her sister, the tray thudded as if it had a thousand pounds on it. She picked up a piece of the cheesiest pizza, globs of cheese oozed down.

"I don't know what I should be more horrified with, that thing you got there or the fact that Ruby consumed three trays of cookies." Jaune watched with fascination and disgust. Pyrrha giggled as she stabbed her salad with a fork.

"So any idea how teams will be formed?" Jaune asked with a mouthful of meatloaf. Pyrrha shot him a 'remember your manners before I beat you' look. The message was received, he swallowed and tried to remember his manners

"From what I hear it's a battle to the death!" Yang balled her hand into his ball giving a sinister smile. Everyone else looked at each other and gulped. "Nah, I'm just kidding. I don't know. Any thoughts on who you want to be partnered with?"

Jaune and Pyrrha looked at each other; that was kinda obvious.

"Jaune." Pyrrha smiled warmly.

"Pyrrha." Jaune grinned.

Yang looked at the two and started to snicker. "That's so cute! The two love birds partnered together." Pyrrha reddened like a cherry while Jaune began to stutter uncontrollably as Yang busted up laughing.

"Yang you broke them." Ruby deadpanned.

"We aren't actually together together!" Jaune quickly recovered.

"We grew up together," Pyrrha confirmed, still blushing.

Yang gave a knowing wink. "Mmhmmmm sure..." She turned to her sister. "Any thoughts sis?"

"Well I'd be on your..." She replied unconvinced. Ruby stopped looking at her sister suspiciously

Yang started to fiddle with her luscious blonde hair. "We'll I thought we could on different teams..." Ruby gasped, horrified by the thought.

"My dear sister Yang! Are you implying that you do not wish to be on the same team as your sister?!" Jaune and Pyrrha smiled as they watched the drama continued to unfold. "Uhhh… noooo…" Yang looked towards the two other friends. "Psst… guys help me out." Jaune shrugged, trying hold in laughter while Pyrrha shook her head, covering her mouth with a hand, trying to stifle the giggles.

"What the hell….." Yang muttered looking past Jaune and Pyrrha, which drew the attention of Ruby. An orange haired girl who wearing pink battle armor. Her turquoise eyes glowed in mischief. In her hands was a massive jug of what appeared to be syrup. She was dumping all of its content onto one pancake. Beside her was an exhausted oriental boy in a green petticoat trying to get the jug away from her.

"NORA!" He shouted as he was trying to grab the jug which she managed to fend while maniacally laughing.

"What the hell…. Poor dude…" Yang whispered dumbfounded.

"She has a bigger sweet tooth then me…" Ruby deadpanned.

"How is she not…. Fat…..?" Jaune asked. Pyrrha gave him a slight shove on the shoulder. "You shouldn't say that Jaune…" she paused for a moment, still watching the girl "However, I do have to agree with you..." Everyone nodded in agreement. They finished their meals and headed towards the ballroom, still watching as the girl ate a plate full of syrup with a pancake on top.

* * *

The ballroom was already being filled up with people. Ruby and Yang split off to talk to some raven-haired girl. Jaune looked over to see all of the commotion of some white-haired girl yelling at Ruby while this black haired girl looked irritated, book in her lap.

"Poor girl." Jaune whispered to Pyrrha who nodded in agreement. The two wandered off to get changed sleeping attire. They emerged with their sleeping bags and rolled them out. "You know, I got a good feeling about this place," Jaune said as he stretched his arms.

Honestly, something was nagging her in the back of her mind. Something felt… just off about everything. She just couldn't determine what it was. She banished these thoughts, burying them down. Everything was going to be fine. She was just nervous. That's right. Nervous about initiation. She noted how Jaune was looking at her slightly concerned. "Me too." She smiled.

"What's up?"

Pyrrha smiled reassuringly. "It's nothing, don't worry about it. Just nerves." She brushed off his concern. Jaune was about to push her, but she laid down yawing. "Good night Jaune." Jaune laid down in his own sleeping bag. "Goodnight Pyrrha."

 **A/N**

* * *

 **Sup guys! New chapter… at Beacon and stuff.**

 **I know this chapter was kinda short... think of it as a prologue...**

 **So I need to admit I know I've been slow with updates…. Well I want to get a serious backlog going for the semester, so I'm looking at getting a backlog and such…. Gradschool is goin to be rampin up soon (which I'm loving btws). Cause of that, I might not be able to write as much as I want.**

 **That being said, Shattered is taking precedence over all of my other stories. Now that being said, all other stories for the time being said will receive less attention, but I will try and work on all of them when I get the chance. I'm going to TRY to stick to a bi-weekly update schedule, but I have a tendency to upload whenever I want….**

 **I also wanted to thank all of you who have joined me for my live streams. It means the world to actually get in touch with readers on a more personal level…. That being said, those who were there got some glimpses as to where Shattered and other stories are goin :D**

 **So this the official introduction to Bacon. And all I can say is next chapter is going to be initiation. I wonder who is all going to be on teams and partners? Let me know what you think.**

 **Also let me know what you think of Raven and Qrow as characters because they will still be playing major roles into this to the point where so far there is an entire chapter dedicated to them. But I want to hear from all of you. And yes the last official character on the FF character is Qrow. It is confirmed. (Hypes and boos are accepted xD)**

 **Ohhhhh and fair warning, the story is going to be getting darker.**

 **Please leave a review, pm, follow, favorite if you're inclined. I love to hear from all of you, even if if you are critiquing.**

 **Note to the Readers:**

 **Alright guys I just want to mention something. 179 followers, 116 favorites, 20,888 views. Now I know that isn't a lot to some of you, but to me…. Like wow. I am literally speechless.**

 **I mean I really didn't think this story would be that successful. When I first started writing fanfics it was to create my own personal story within the RWBY universe. I honestly didn't think it would be this popular (popular in my own opinion.)**

 **I won't lie, when I first thought of this idea, it was going to end at Beacon. But seeing this story blowup and gain so many followers, I kept on developing to the point where the first part of the Beacon Arc is going to be around another 15-20 chapters, and there is going to be one or two more arcs afterwards.**

 **All I can say is that you guys mean so much to me. The encouragement, it's truly inspiring and I don't know….. All the stuff that goes on, you guys help pick me up. I'm saying that I have no regrets being apart of the community. So I wanted to thank all of you.**

 **I hope I don't disappoint you.**


	21. Beacon 2: Trial of Fortitude

Chapter 21: Trial of Fortitude.

 **A/N: Dark Intro**

* * *

She looked down, her hands covered in blood. Bodies were strewn all around her in the hallway, the bodies of all those she cared about. Yang was slouched over, her arm missing, a nasty gash along her stomach. Ruby was beside her, covered in cuts, missing an eye, trying to keep her beloved sister awake.

"Pyrrha…. you have to end this….." The little reaper pleaded. "Please….." Pyrrha nodded, gripping Milo tightly. She continued to find Mr. Arc sprawled out on the ground; throat had been slashed. Beside him was Joan who had a hole in her gut the size of a softball. How did this all happen?

WHY?! WHO THE HELL COULD CAUSE THIS MUCH DEATH AND PAIN?! Tears welled up in the young spartan's eyes. The people who took her in, raised her as one of their own, snuffed out in an instant. Pyrrha continued her march taking a few steps past the Arcs to see Qrow. Qrow was hanging up on the wall, his sword lodged into his chest, blood running down the wall. Pyrrha shook in anger, sadness, fury. Another person she considered family. Gone. Whoever did this was going to pay, pay very dearly.

There the door was, Room 502. A familiar door, very familiar. The hallway smelled of disinfectant, sickness, and death wafted in the air. This couldn't be the hospital could it be? It didn't matter, shield and sword at the ready she bashed in the door. To be meet with a terrible grisly scene. There in the bed hooked up to all the familiar life-sustaining machines. There laid Crystal, blood staining the bed sheet, blood dripping onto the ground, in her chest, in an arrow. Off in the corner were the other Arcs. Mabel, Catoline, Abella all hunched over, all arrows in them. Pyrrha froze, surveying the scene of a massacre.

"P..r..r..y..h..a.." A voice croaked out. Her head darted over to behind the door. She whipped around, sword at the ready. There laid Jaune three arrows in his chest, blood trickling down his cheek. "You… need….. to… go…." He croaked out. Pyrrha rushed over to him.

She placed a hand on his chest. The arrows were in deep, way too deep. "Jaune come on! Stay awake! I'll get you out of here… you'll be fine…." This couldn't have been happening. How could he leave her? He was apart of her as she was part of him. He was going to make it. She swore.

"Pyrrha…. Turn around….." He pointed. She hesitantly looked to see a tall, lanky black robed figure with a black nevermore mask. Two red eyes glowing ominously. In his hand was a tall staff with a crystal on top. Pyrrha lunged forward aiming for the figure's heart. "YOU BASTARD!" She cried out. He quickly sidestepped the attack, smashing the staff into her unprotected back.

Pyrrha crashed right into the ground before she could move, she found herself enveloped by four fiery lashes holding her in place. "Tsk, Tsk. Miss Nikos, I know Raven taught you better." Pyrrha mouth slacked. No. Not her too. As if reading her mind, he chuckled. "No, she'll be joining our festivities shortly." His voice was filled with malice with a hint of joy.

The figure tapped the floor with his staff. Jaune glowed as he was lifted up from the ground by a pair of fiery bindings. "NO! LEAVE HIM BE!" She yelled. The figure tapped the ground again. The fire chains glowed in intensity as Jaune moaned in agony.

"...please….." she pleaded, her voice a whisper.

"Your family, the Arcs, the Branwens, all of you have been a thorn in my side for way too long. You've cost me resources, men, money. Now you must be punished for your transgressions. Foolish delusions to think that you could stop us... ME. It matters not, though, mankind's liberation is at hand, shame you won't live to see it." He tapped the floor again. The chains grew brighter as smoke began to rise. Jaune cried out in pain. Soon he was enveloped in a bright light of fire, being burned alive. Pyrrha looked away sobbing uncontrollably as her friend was just incinerated.

"I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL DESTROY YOU!" The spartan snarled, practically choking on her tears. The ways that she could end her. She lost everything because of this one person.

 ***CRASH***

A tall black haired huntress with a red dust blade smashed through the window, quickly looking around the room. "RAVEN GO! PLEASE! LEAVE!" Her crimson eyes locked on to Pyrrha then went wide. Pyrrha watched as the figure had produced a gun, but she should have aura to protect herLet's unless… oh no….

An aura disruptor. "Do it." The masked man ordered. Out of nowhere, another figure emerged with a bow, arrow pulled back, the figure wore a Nevermore mask but wore a short red dress, her amber eyes clearly visible through eye slits.

The next moment, the arrow was released, impaling Raven in the chest. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Pyrrha shouted as Raven fell to her knees, clutching the arrow.

"Raven. I want you to know nothing personal. I always find my targets, though. You weren't supposed to survive the night we raided your family, you weren't meant to survive at Beacon. I give you credit for your persistence. However, this is it." He snapped his finger. Another arrow lodged into her chest. The huntress fell to the ground dead in her pool of blood.

"Now Miss Nikos. We finish the job." The figure tapped the ground with staff as she could feel herself being burned away into nothing. Everything was consumed in a bright light.

* * *

 ***Beacon Ballroom***

Jaune looked at his scroll. Four A.M. He looked over at his friend to see that she was tossing and turning uncontrollably mumbling in her sleep. Her brow was covered in sweat as she was trembling from something. The expression on her face was that of pure anger and sadness. He quickly moved to place an arm around her. However, her trembling didn't stop, if anything, it only got worse.

He pulled her into him, embracing her. Hoping to ward off whatever afflicting the poor girl. Her eyes darted open, gasping for air. Her eyes were frantically darting around as if confused. Jaune couldn't help embrace her eyes finally met his own looking down at her. "Jaune….?" She meekly whispered. Her eyes were beginning to well up. "Shhshhshh" He tried to soothe her. "Everything is going to be alright. We're all fine." She started to sob quietly at his words. He decided against saying anything. It was probably better for her to get it out of her system.

She burrowed her head into the shoulder, trying to forget all of it, but it was just so ingrained into her. She couldn't, how could she forget all of those she cared about ruthlessly cut down, murdered before her eyes. "You wanna talk about it?" He asked stroking her hair. She wouldn't lie, it did help her calm down a little bit, knowing that he was still very much alive. She nodded, she looked at him, as best she could. She tried to hide her feelings, but she was failing horribly, which made Jaune look even more concerned.

"I watched everyone die….. everyone….."She whispered, breaking eye contact, looking down at her hands. "... all the blood.." She tried to stifle the sob, to bury it down. However, she could feel her eyes begin to moisten up again. "When I found you….. You had arrows…. In you…" She sobbed again "You were burned away by the man." She burrowed her head into his shoulder again. He held onto her even tightly. He was there, alive, perfectly fine.

"Hey, I'm fine. Look, I'm still here." She continued to tremble slightly. "I'm not going anywhere. It was all just a nightmare." He took one of her hands gently and held to his chest. He could feel his heartbeat through her hand. "You feel that? I'm still alive."

"Jaune..?"

"Yes Pyr?"

"Please don't leave me like that."

"I would never." A few moments passed, by now Pyrrha was looking off in the distance. Jaune noted that she had settled down. "Feeling better?" He asked.

She looked at him with a small warm smile, nodding. "Thank you."

"Anytime, you wanna see if they have breakfast this early?"

"That sounds good to me." She nodded. The two quickly packed up their bags and changed into the attire that they would be for initiation. Jaune was first to get down, when Pyrrha emerged, he noted how she much better having washed those tear streaks away. She moved to his side as the two made their way to the cafeteria. They didn't need to say much. It was comfortable silence. Pyrrha was glad to have that awful dream dispelled, while Jaune was happy to help dispel that terrible nightmare.

He honestly didn't know how she coped with all of it. It sounded like those dreams would break an average person. She wasn't very open with how often she had them, however when he knew it was getting worse and worse as time went on. He was legitimately surprised that she hadn't cracked from the relentless pressure.

They arrived at the cafeteria. Very few students were there considering how it was 6:00 a.m. The duo made their way to get their food. Jaune was rather pleased with a nice stack of pancakes with some syrup drizzled on top while Pyrrha was content with a bowl of Pumpkin Pete's and some fruit.

They sat down at the table facing each other starting to enjoy their breakfast. "You know… I don't think Pumpkin Pete's is healthy…." Jaune said rather amused.

The redhead raised an eyebrow. "What? I like the marshmallows…." She replied back innocently.

"I thought you were all about being healthy. Like you know fruits and stuff like that."

"Normally I am, what about you Mister I can eat three pizzas in one sitting…."

"Good times…. Good times." Jaune remembered fondly.

"Until you get a heart attack…."

"RENNNNNNNNN! They have PANCAKES! LOOK AT HIM!" The bubbly syrup girl with orange hair made her way over to Jaune and Pyrrha who were rather shocked by this girl's ability to be so hyper. "You love pancakes too? Oh we can be friends! Can we be friends?! Let's be friends! I LOVE PANCAKES!"

Jaune blinked being barely able to keep up with the ball of energy, "Uhhh…. Sure?" Pyrrha smiled at the energetic girll. She seemed nice enough.

The Eastern boy trudged along, exhaustion filled in his eyes. "I should apologize for my friend's…. energy level this early…." He looked over at the orange haired girl. "Nora, would you please get us some breakfast?" His monotone voice conveyed the emotions of a sleep deprived old man. Jaune gestured for the exhausted boy to sit down, which he gratefully accepted. "I'm Lie Ren by the way. You can just call me Ren." He yawned while nodding towards the bubbly girl. "You've met my friend, Nora."

"The name is Jaune Arc." He extended his hand which Ren accepted. "And this is Pyrrha Nikos." She extended her hand shook hands.

"Pleasure to meet you, Pyrrha."

"Likewise Ren."

By then Nora had come skipping down to the table, handing Ren a cup of tea while Nora took her spot beside Pyrrha, happily scarfing down pancakes. "Nora. Don't be rude, introduce yourself." She looked up, mouth full of pancake. She quickly swallowed.

"Hiya guys! I'm Nora Valkyrie"

"Jaune."

"Pyrrha." They both introduced herself. At that, the pancake destroyer went back to devouring her food.

"So where are you guys from?" Nora asked. Jaune looked at the bubbly girl rather surprised how she could talk with cheeks filled with pancakes.

"Whitehall. Northern Vale."

"Ahh Northern Vale? I heard the weather is beautiful up there." Ren noted as he sipped his morning tea. Pyrrha nodded.

"It truly is, although the winters are rough." Nora grinned

"Me and Ren never had to worry about winters in our village. We always migrated towards the southern lands during the fall."

"You two were nomads?" Jaune asked. Ren nodded

"Indeed. Our village sticks mostly towards the coast."

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow giving a concerned looked. "Isn't that dangerous? Don't nomads get targeted by Grimm attacks?"

The bubbly girl deflated and looked at her oriental friend. "Indeed." Was the only word he said. Jaune and Pyrrha looked at each other a little downcasted. "I'm sorry." Pyrrha said in sincerity. "I honestly didn't know." Ren only nodded. It was Nora who spoke for him this time,

"You didn't know, don't worry about it."

Ruby and Yang walked in the cafeteria. "Hey Jaune!" Ruby waved excitedly, "Hey Pyrrha!"

The two waved. "You mind if we sit here?" Yang asked.

Jaune shook his head, "Awesome we'll get some food and be back."

As true to her word it took less than a minute with Yang and Ruby. Yang had a large omelet while Ruby had feral and cookies. After getting introduced to Ren and Nora, they proceeded to chow down.

They fell comfortable conversation until Jaune looked around the cafeteria which was devoid of all life except for the six of them. "Hey guys... Where did everyone go?"

"They all disappeared! Maybe they were all ninjas like Ren!" Nora exclaimed while standing up and surveying the cafeteria. "Except not as cool as him of course..." Ren just shook his head earning a giggle from the orange bubble of joy and energy. Pyrrha pulled out her scroll. 7:30. "Guys what time were we supposed to be at the cliff?"

Ren face palmed "by eight." He muttered. His eyes perked up. "Eight." He repeated. Jaune just banged his head on the table muttering "Crap."

"Shit" Yang cursed, Ruby clamped her sister's mouth.

"Language." The smaller redhead scolded.

"It would probably be best if we get going." Pyrrha suggested. The six of them made a mad dash towards the locker room. The quickly retrieved their weapons and made a mad dash towards the cliffs which was about a mile off.

* * *

 ***Beacon Cliff Side***

Weiss Schnee was never one to be late to everything, especially to the monumental event such as the initiation, however, seeing six of fellow initiates struggling to run up the hill and to their perspective paths, was a poor showing of work ethic. Of course, the little girl known as Ruby would be among them and her oaf of a sister, the tall blonde girl that dressed to leave little imagination.

"Students, you got here one minute before the deadline. I don't know if I should be concerned or impressed." Ozpin nodded somewhat approvingly. That being said, please take your spots." He waited for the last six students. Clearing his throat he started.

"For years you have trained to become warriors, and today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

"Now I'm sure many of you have heard rumours about the assignment of teams." She spoke up. "Well allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will given teammates… today."

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon." Ozpin gave the faintest of smiles. "So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone whom you can work well with. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years. After you've partnered up make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die." He scanned the initiates seeing their nervousness. "You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each part must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately." He smiled. "Good luck." He said with a hint of joy.

Jaune looked down at his feet hearing strange clicking sounds. *WOOSH* Jaune whirled his head to see one student flung from his platform. He quickly drew his shield and sword as felt clicking sound. He braced himself. He noted how Yang just blasted off while Ruby darted off at full speed accidently hitting what appeared to be a blackbird. Poor thing.

Pyrrha looked over at him, eyes filled with a certain indomitable spirit. She nodded resolutely and was flung. Before he knew it, he was next.

* * *

Pyrrha soared through the air. Her training kicked in. She remembered how Raven taught her the vital importance of landing strategy. She held her shield up as the trees came closer. She braced herself as well as her Aura. She crashed into the trees at high speed, smashing any tree branch in her way. Each tree slowed her speed until she was able to come to a running stop. Halting, she quickly mechashifted her sword into her rifle. She took aim to see Jaune assume the same format except tucked into a ball into a ball glowing in Aura as he smashed into a few trees, turning them into wooden shotgun pellets.

Pyrrha quickly dashed from free branch to tree branch not breaking stride following the glowing white cannon ball that was known as Jaune.

All she had to do was follow the breadcrumbs of chopped down trees. Eventually, she came across a crater with a Jaune sprawled out. Filled with concern, Pyrrha leaped into the crater to find a dazed and confused blonde knight.

"Jaune? Are you alright?!" She snapped her fingers to reel him out of his stupor.

He slowly came to eyes meeting Emerald lakes. Well it was official "Hi partner."

Pyrrha shook her head with a light hearted smile, giving him a hand which he took. "So Raven was right... I need to work on a landing strategy."

"You were a giant glowing cannonball."

"It worked, didn't it? It would have been nice if Ozpin gave us parachutes." Pyrrha hummed in agreement. She was euphoric that she was going to be working with her best friends. She could ask for more. "Off to the temple!" Jaune marched off eagerly followed by a content Pyrrha.

After a probably a half an hour of walking through the woods, gunshots rang out.

"It seems our commarades have encountered the enemy." Pyrrha head whirled towards the sound of the gunfire.

"Come on let's go see if they need any help!" Jaune charged towards the sounds of combat.

* * *

 ***Bang***

A gauntleted fist slammed into the chin of a large Ursa Major, blowing off its head. The blonde whirled around to see a massive paw lined with razor sharp claws swing towards her head.

Yang ducked down, avoiding the mighty swing. In one fluent motion she sprung out blasting Ember Celica into its unprotected belly.

The Ursa Major roared in anger as it reared up on its two hind legs. It prepared to bear down on her with its massive claws. Yang rolled out of the ways and prepared herself for her own counter attack until the creature's head fell off.

Yang raised an eyebrow, lowering her arms. A small giddy Ruby stood over the massive Ursa with Crescent Rose fully extended. "Ruby!" Yang rushed over giving an unyielding, unforgiving hug. "Yang... Need air..."

She dropped her sister. "I guess this means we're partners."

"Yep!" Ruby replied chirpily.

Rustling from the bushes caught the two huntress' attention. They both took aim at the bush expecting more Grimm. They were surprised to meet up Jaune and Pyrrha who had their own weapons at the ready.

"What are you guys doing here?" Yang asked

Jaune lowered his sword and shield, "We heard gunfire, so we decided to check it out." He looked at the dissipating bodies of five Ursi, "Seems you got it..."

The blonde brawler shrugged going a cocky smirk, "What can I say? I'm just the best..." At that, she was engulfed in a cloud of rose petals.

"I helped too! If it weren't for me, you'd Ursa food." The rose reaper clamped onto her sister now partner

"I could have handled it."

"Nope."

Jaune cleared his throat causing the two siblings to look at him. "Any idea where the temple is?"

Yang shrugged. "No idea. Whatta bout you?"

"I'm afraid not." Pyrrha shook her head. "However we should probably get going though." Jaune snapped his finger.

"I'll get a vantage point." He darted up the tree quickly reach its canopy. He could make out a series of a stone structure pass a little clearing. "Guys I found it!" He slid down the tree land, "Let's get going." After some walking, they group broke into conversation.

"So Vomit Boy you go lucky getting partnered with your girlfriend." Yang gave a wink.

Jaune moaned in frustration. "I'm not his girlfriend." Pyrrha protested fiercely.

"Yang stop joking." Ruby sighed in frustration. The four reached the clearing in the woods.

* * *

 ***In the treeline***

Four figures waited in the canopy are blending into the environment. Their cloaks were blending in and matching the environment perfectly.

"My lady, we have four targets coming into the test zone." He quietly whispered into his mic.

"You may proceed with phase one." The voice on the other end replied back.

"Copy, Alpha out," he looked over his comrades. "Which one brought the popcorn?" He pressed the button, eagerly recording everything with his helmet cam.

One of his followers took out a syringe and injected himself with a red fluid. "Get Bravo up against a tree." Alpha ordered watching his comrade convulse violently. Once he was secured, he looked at the rest of his comrades. "Spread out and form a perimeter."

* * *

Pyrrha continued her walk beside her partner. She could have sworn she felt the earth below her armored heels vibrate. She shrugged it off as nothing.

Another vibration. She froze and looked down at the ground. The three others turned around. "Pyrrha?" The smaller redhead asked, slightly concerned.

"Did you feel that?"

"Feel what?" Jaune asked.

Another vibration.

"There it is again!"

"Pyrrha you feeling alright?" Yang placed a hand on hip raising an eyebrow.

 ***RUMBLE RUMBLE***

The ground shook with force knocking people to the ground. "What the-" The earth began to give way. A vast chasm started to reveal itself as chunks of earth started to crumble away. The three were in grave danger as they were still trying to recover. Without thinking, Pyrrha quickly used her semblance touched Jaune armor, Yang by her gauntlets, and Ruby by her scythe. She yanked them over to her where the ground was stable. The three scrambled up to their feet, looking at the chasm.

"Thanks for the save."

"Thanks Pyr"

"Thanks Pyrrha." They all thanked her. She nodded humbly giving a small smile.

"Anytime."

An ear shattering screech boomed out of the chasm. The ground continued to shake as two massive black legs covered in bony white plates slammed into the ground, the end of the legs were three incredibly sharp like talons.

"Guys we-." Jaune was interrupted by another pair of massive legs slamming into the ground.

"-need to go. Now." Pyrrha nodded while Ruby and Yang stood there silently memorized, Pyrrha grabbed Yang's arm while Jaune moved for Ruby. "Come on... Whatever that thing is we need to get back up for that thing..." The urgency in his tone snapped and Ruby and Yang out if it. They darted off with Jaune and Pyrrha.

 ***THUD***

They sprinted through the woods leaping over dry river beds and large roots.

 ***Thud***

They kept on running, racing for their lives. They made it to a clearing with large stone buildings and pillars towered over the treeline. Jaune saw four individuals by a group of pedestals. As he got closer, he could make out two familiar people Ren and Nora who were in the middle of picking what he assumed were relics.

"Ren! Nora!" Jaune panted out, doubling over. Pyrrha Yang and Ruby aimed their weapons from the direction thuds could be heard. "Something is coming, we need your help!"

"We're supposed to be huntsmen, what could you possibly need help with?" Weiss crossed her arms unimpressed. Trees began to be uprooted. Six large glowing eyes could be seen as a giant six-legged creature slammed through the last of the trees, finally revealing itself. It was a tall creature, half the size of the trees in the forest. Its legs were covered in bone plates while each leg had three sharp talons. Below the red eyes rested two large fangs. The body was covered in bone while the rear of the spider creature was covered in sharp spines of bone with black tips. The spider Grimm was lumbered over the eight students letting out a massive screech.

* * *

 ***Beacon Cliff Side***

Ozpin watched Jaune and Pyrrha intently. They were strong, Raven had trained them well, but was more impressive was the bond between the two. The two seemed to be feeding off each other constantly reinforcing each other, being a source of strength for one another.

A large bird swooped in, it's wing being injured. It transformed into an all too familiar black haired student.

"Ms. Branwen." Ozpin looked up to see a Raven holding a sore arm. "You've injured yourself."

"Yeah... It appears that Ruby's semblance turns her into a human bullet.

"Ozpin chuckled. "Indeed, like mother like daughter it seems." He noted with a small smile.

Glynda, however, was not too happy to see her former student. "Raven, why are you even here?" Raven glared at the headmaster's assistant.

"She is here by my request." Ozpin interrupt which caused Raven to back down slightly. However, Glynda only seemed to be more on edge.

"Why would you do that?"

"To help provide security." Glynda raised an eyebrow. "While we hold on to our current policy of non-interference when it comes to Grimm, however, she here for other... Unforeseen complications."

Glynda looked at her former student who stood before her, her arms crossed, the expression of seriousness and killer intent. "You think Legion will be here?"

Raven gave no expression. "It is a possibility." Ozpin admitted, "With recent events, I would rather play it safe." He looked down at his scroll. "Oh no..."

"What is it?"

"A Huragok..." Ozpin muttered. Raven and Glynda looked at each other sharing the same alarmed expression.

"That is an S rank Grimm..." Glynda whispered as she watched the feed from the scroll. By the looks of it, the old spider-like Grimm was old, extremely old.

"Those only native to Vacuo, how the hell did it end up here..." Raven wondered out loud

"Doesn't matter, Raven find out what is going on down there."

"And students?" She asked.

"Intervene if they are in extreme danger."

"Right." She darted off the cliff only to seem as a raven flapping its wings.

* * *

"Ewwwwwww what a big spider thing... Let's squish it!" Nora's mischievous grin was all that was needed to tell she meant those same exact words.

Blake pulled out Gambol Shroud, Ren storm flowers, Weiss Myrtenaster. The spider Grimm lifted up its rear section. "Take cover!" Jaune shouted.

Bony spines were flung out at great speed, turning them into massive javelins. Shattering rocks, a black ooze seeping around the crater, bubbling and hissing. "Don't let the spines touch you! !they're poisonous." Jaune shouted

Pyrrha ducked out from the pillar with her rifle taking potshots at it. Five rounds, all of them bounced off of the bony armor. It roared in anger flinging its javelins like spines in general direction. Pyrrha quickly ducked behind her pillar feeling the impact of the bones. "Pyrrha get out of there!" Ruby shouted.

"Ruby! Yang distract it!" Jaune ordered.

"Right!" The creature shot out more spurs in Pyrrha's direction, more javelins were thrown at her, black ooze starting to melt the rocks that were impacted.

Yang and Ruby opened fired on the creature, sniper rounds and shotgun rounds doing no damage. Sensing her opportunity, Pyrrha darted towards Jaune's rock. She tucked and rolled over to him avoiding several spines.

"Anyone have ice dust?!" Jaune asked

"I do!" Weiss readied her rapier.

"Anyway you can freeze its behind?"

She gave him a disgusted look "excuse me?!"

"Just do it! Ruby! Yang! Find some cover!"

Yang and Ruby zigzagged out of the way as Weiss launched herself at the creature, stabbing the instantly invading the spiny rear section in ice.

With a sudden burst of speed, the creature let out a mighty roar and charged the eight. "Ren I need you to distract it, Weiss I need you to freeze its front to legs." Ren leaped forward jumping eloquently onto the beast harassing it with his bladed smgs as Weiss dashed forward

However, the creature was smarter than it appeared. It saw the heiress and swatted her her aside as if she was a bug, her body crashing into a stone wall. It roared in victory, thrashing around to toss the Eastern boy off its back. He crashed on the ground. "Weiss get up!" Blake cried out.

Too late, the creature pinned her down in between one of its taloned toes, about ready to drive its child Lon dang in the heiress.

"NORA BREAK IT!" Blake cried out. Nora launched herself at the creature slamming her hammer right in the face. The creature stumbled up on its hind legs. Blake tossed Weiss her the chain to Gambol Shroud which the heiress caught in the of time. Blake with all her might pulled, bring her partner over to her. "Blake distract the front, we'll handle the back!" Jaune shouted

"Right!"

Jaune brought Pyrrha, Yang, and Ruby together.

"Pyrrha I'm going to need you to throw Yang up in the air."

"Wait…... what?!" The blonde boxer asked startled.

"Listen, you use fire dust in shotgun blasts right?" He asked. She nodded "Well what happens when you freeze something brittle and heat it up super quick."

"It breaks..." Ruby muttered with a smile

"Exactly, with that bone peeled away, Ruby and I will cut the rear off." He looked over to Pyrrha, "then you take the killing shot."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile, Blake was firing her pistols at the creature which only infuriated it. Weiss had managed to keep it at bay with a wall of fire while Ren continued to spray at the face. Nora and Blake provided defense for any limbs that got too close, being met with either a scabbard or war hammer.

Blake batted away another swing from the creature only to see Ruby's sister flying up in the air, apparently being dragged by her golden gauntlets now glowing black. With a sudden jerk, she started to fall.

Yang repositioned herself, activating her semblance as the air around turned into an infernal sun. She shot her her gauntlets behind her, accelerating her speed. She aimed a gauntleted fist at the top of the ice.

Contact.

The ice instantly evaporated as the bone on the rear started to crack and break off.

"Pyrrha!"

She nodded quickly touching Jaune's armor and Ruby's scythe, flinging them up in the air with her semblance.

Jaune looked down to see that he was starting to descend. He formed into a ball, blade stretched out as Ruby followed suite. They started to fall gathering momentum as they spun down. He felt little resistance as Jaune's sword sliced through the unprotected skin. He crashed into the ground ground creating a crater, it must have been a success because a giant piece of Grimm blocked his escape. He heard the unmistakable roar of agony from the Grimm.

Blake realized it was going to turn on those who literally cut it in half. She wrapped her rope around a fang and pulled. "Come on guys! Help!" Weiss, Ren and Nora rushed over pulling down on the rope. The creatur roared as it tried to turn against its assailants that wounded it.

Pyrrha had one shot, with precision aim, she stuck her thumb out gauging the distance and wind, she hurled Milo in the gaping hole. It must have worked.

The Grimm collapsed letting out a gurgle. Blake plunked seeing a reddish gold tip of a blade emerging from of the eyes.

The Grimm started to disintegrate leaving a grinning Jaune in the crater Pyrrha immediately rushed over giving him a hand. "Good job everyone..." He panted "...now let's get those relics..."

* * *

 ***Treeline***

"Command, field tests resulted in a failure." The operative muttered in his mic.

"Right Alpha, come back to base, we'll review footage."

"Yes ma'am."

"Bravo, Charlie, Delta on me!" The operative ordered over his mic.

Static.

"Bravo. Charlie. Delta" Alpha's voice rose in frustration "Do you copy?"

"Oh I'm sorry, your buddies are a bit disposed." Alpha whirled around to see the red and black clad huntress wielding the infamous blade crimson blade.

Alpha made a grab for his aura disruptor pistol. However it was too late she was on top him, a giant gauntleted fist smashing into his face, everything fading to black.

"Ozpin I have three operatives, three dead, one unconscious." She reported over the scroll.

"Raven find out what he knows by any means."

"Any means?"

"By any means."

"Yessir." Raven closed her scroll. "Oh buddy, you're going to regret ever trying to kill my daughter." She bound the unconscious figure and scooped him up. She left the dismembered others for the Grimm to munch on. They needed a snack.

* * *

 ***Induction Ceremony***

"Jaune Arc, Yang Xiao-Long, Pyrrha Nikos, and Ruby Rose. For collecting the night relic you will be Team Jaypier". Ozpin looked at Arc "led by Jaune Arc."

Pyrrha placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder as Yang punched him in the other arm with a lighthearted smile, while Darted off to hug him. "Congratulations young man."

Jaune nodded deftly as their made it off the stage.

"Blake Belladonna, Lie Ren, Weiss Schnee, Nora Valkyrie, you've collected the knight relic, from here on out, you will be Team Brown, led by Blake Belladonna."

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Hey guys, got a new chapter that I felt compelled to get out as soon as possible.**

 **I'll be honest, I'm not to sure on how I presented the combat/new Grimm type. Just think porcupine spider lol. As for the combat, I don't know if it felt choppy, grainy, and stuff. I know I'm not the best writer, but hopefully it was alright. If it wasn't please let me know.**

 **Honestly, if anyone can guess where I got the name for the new Grimm, please let me know xD. I'll give you a hint, my favorite game.**

 **So it's official…. Teams have been made. Team JYPR (Jaypier) and BRWN (Brown) I know I'm going to receive a lot of flak for it, but it is for the sake of story. I won't lie though… finding a name with Jaypier was the hardest thing to do besides the combat.**

 **Oh and hey this chapter was kinda dark…. The Next one will be even darker with the intro, that's all im going to say. Just a heads up.**

 **If you are so inclined, please leave a review, pm, follow or fav. I love to hear from you, even if it is criticism. I'll take anything, it helps me out a lot. Let me know if you have any ideas, theories, suggestions, or if you liked, didn't like it, or were meh. It helps me to gauge where I am with all of you.**

 **Thank you so much for reading, it's always appreciated.**


	22. Beacon 3: Ups and Downs

**Chapter 22: Ups and Downs**

* * *

Alpha snapped two to find himself bound to a chair, well, to be honest, a desk. His head was aching as if someone was drilling into it. He could taste blood in his mouth. Oh, wait...

A bright light flashed on, illuminating a dark dark room. Footsteps could be heard behind him. Finally, the Branwen bitch reveals herself, he thought to himself with a smile. "You're going to die today; there is no avoiding it. However, you choose whether if its a fast or slow and agonizing death." A harsh yet somewhat reassuring voice called out from the shadow.

The man started to laugh. "Let me guess, depending if I cooperate."

The masked woman stepped forward, "Ah, so you know the game then."

Alpha grinned "Why of course! I played it many times before in your shoes." He gave a knowing smile, his voice dropping down to a whisper. "Tell me, how does it feel to be the one who holds all the cards. How does it feel to be in control over someone pleas and cries of agony?"

With a lightning fast movement, she smacked him across the face sending teeth flying, blood spurting from his mouth.

"You Legion just love to talk."

"Oh boy! A feisty one!" The man gave a bloody grin. He spat blood on the floor. "Do you love being Ozpin's whore? Do you love not having a free will?"

Raven ignored the comments. He was just egging her on. She had a job to do. "What were doing at initiation."

"Imagine what your daughter would think of you... torturing people. Killing people." Raven froze. How did they know about Yang? She made sure cover her existence as much as possible. "Oh my even Tai... Qrow... although I imagine he already knows... and is rather concerned with your erratic behavior." She clenched her fist.

"But Summer... I know she would definitely be disappointed with you. And you let her down... you let her daughter down-" Raven whirled around, smashing her fist into his cheek spewing more blood and teeth.

"Oh you know..." The coughed up more blood. "We... Know... About your daughter... In Beacon. We know everything about you." He coughed out managing a sinister grin, blood dripping down from the corner of her lips.

Raven at this point was acting on pure rage. The audacity of the man to threaten her child, her friends, her family. No, he was going to be made to pay. She took a hammer and smashed it down on his thumb. The man just laughed maniacally. "Did I hit a sore spot?" He looked at his thumb, chuckling.

"How were you connected to the Huragok? What is in the syringe?"

"Now, we are just starting to have fun." He looked Raven rich in the eye. "It'll be nothing compared to our plans for your family."

Raven quickly turned around, hiding her anger. She placed her hands on the table beside her, shaking her anger. "What we did to your mother and father will be nothing compared what we'll do to Yang and Ruby." Raven gripped the hammer, her vision becoming less clear, her thoughts less coherent. She turned her head towards alpha, expressionless. "Then we'll find Taiyang and Qrow..." She took the hammer and smashed his jaw a screaming.

The man sprayed blood from his mouth covering Raven. "And once... everything... you love... is gone... and all of your... joy... is turned to ash..." Raven brought the hammer down on the man's head with a sickening crunch; the man slumped in his chair. She kept waylaying into, blood splurting from each blow covering her clothing and skin. She lost it, screaming out in anger.

"YOU BASTARD!" She kept on swinging, and swinging, and swinging. Each swing to protect someone she cared about. Each swing to avenge them. Each blow to avenge her family, her friends. She took out her anger and frustration

After a known amount of time, Raven took several steps back dropping the hammer, looking at the inhuman figure before her. She slumped against the wall. She looked at her hands drenched in blood. She felt hollow, empty, as if she was nothing. She numbly pulled out her scroll and dialed it. "Qrow... I need you..." She muttered. Her tone lost all of emotion. Her confidence, her drive, her motivation all gone. Her voice was devoid of all emotion.

"Raven...?! Where are you?!"

 ***CLICK***

* * *

Qrow searched a great many places for his older sister. She was back at his apartment, she wasn't in her cave abode, she wasn't in Patch. The time rifting was putting a great amount of strain, his nose was bleeding, his head pounding.

He had one more shot. He opened up a portal.

When he arrived at his destination, he found hazel eyes meeting his own. "Where is she?" He pointed his scythe at the headmaster

Glynda stepped forward, but the old man raised his hand. "Where is who?" He asked, sounding slightly perplexed.

Qrow's eyes narrowed. "Raven, what did you do to her."

Ozpin sighed, looking slightly exhausted. "I'm not at liberty to say."

Qrow pointed the scythe over the headmaster. "She called me asking for me... Ozpin where is she." Ozpin looked at his scythe. He gave a chuckle; he could easily disarm the huntsmen before him. He was also touched to see for his the care and loyalty to his sister. "She was interrogating a prisoner down in the vaults."

Qrow lowered his scythe to his neck, millimeters away.

"Take me to her."

Ozpin nodded and walked over to the elevator with a pissed off Qrow. After reaching the bottom floor, the elevator continued its descent. After few tense minutes, the elevator came to a stop.

The doors open to reveal a cavernous vault with massive archways being lit by green fire. "What the hell..." He muttered as Ozpin continued to lead the way where they came across an ironclad door.

The headmaster opened the door only to freeze at the scene. There in the middle of a spotlight laid the remains of a man whose head was unrecognizable, blood around the body.

"What the fuck Ozpin?!" Qrow roared "Is this some kind of sick joke?!"

"Qrow..." A meek voice called out from the shadow.

"Ozpin. Leave Now."

"Qrow I'm so sorry."

"LEAVE!" Ozpin looked at his former student's eyes. He turned around and walked out, the tap of his cane echoing throughout the vault.

"Raven? Where are you?" He asked looking around the room. No response. "Come on Rae, you can talk to me." He started to search around the dark room until he found his sister up against the darkest corner of the room.

He instantly moved to her side checking her for any injuries while she was trembling. "Raven what happened."

No response, she just trembled."

"Come on you can tell me." He wiped some of the blood of her face with his cape.

She rocked back and forth while cradling her knees. "Raven I'm getting you out of here." He took his scythe and opened a portal. He scooped up his sister, now realizing that she was covered in blood, drenched in it. _'Gods what did you do Rae?_ ' He silently thought to himself as he scooped her up and stepped through the portal.

* * *

 ***Beacon Dorms***

"Where the heck are our rooms?" Jaune fumbled with his map.

"Wow. you have a map, and you still manage to get lost.." Ruby stifles her giggles as Yang started to laugh.

Pyrrha scanned the room numbers; she gave a second a glance at the room number that they just passed. "Jaune what was room number again?"

The blonde knight looked at his roommate "five 'o' two, why?"

"We just passed it." She pointed to the door they had just passed.

Jaune crumbled up the map in his hand muttering "useless map." Jaune let out a sigh and led the group back to the door ignoring the smirks of his fellow teammates. He opened the door. "Home sweet home!" He threw his bag to farthest left bed, while Pyrrha sat on the bed right beside his.

Ruby gave a sinister smile to her older sister. "Bunkbeds."

Yang confirmed. "Bunkbeds." The right side of the room turned into a cloud of dust as two siblings cranked out bunkbeds.

"Excuse me but do you have any idea what time it is?!" A white themed girl said. However, this did not stop the commotion of construction.

"Bunkbed time!" The cloud shouted. Weiss stomped over JYSP leader and pointed a sharp finger at him. "Arc, reign those two in."

"I-uhh..."

"Weiss, come on you have your own stuff to unpack." A reserved voice called out. Two amber eyes peeked past the door. By now the cloud had subsided with a happy and excited Ruby and Yang who high-fived each other. "Oh Hi Blake!" Ruby greeted with a large smile. "Hey, you wanna meet some of my teammates?"

"Uh-" Ruby swept over to dragging the ninja girl to the blonde knight "This is our leader, Jaune, and his partner Pyrrha." They all shook hands

"Nice to meet you." Jaune greeted

"Likewise." Blake shook his hand.

"A pleasure." Pyrrha smiled as she shook the amber eyed girl.

"I just meant to get my partner, Weiss. I didn't mean to intrude."

"Not a problem." Jaune said casually. "Nice to meet you, Weiss." The white theme girl crossed her arms giving a Jaune a sour expression. "As team leader is your job to impose order, I won't let this ruckus continue as the year goes on. I will file a noise complaint with the headmaster next time." She stormed making JYPR drop their jaws.

"I feel sorry for you..." Yang shook her head frowning.

"Yeah... Hopefully, she lightens up..." Blake replied back with a slight air of hopefulness. "Well anyway, I should get going. We're actually neighbors."

"Ah that's cool, we'll have to hang out sometime then." Jaune smiled.

Blake nodded "You guys have a good one." she said as she walked over to her own room.

"I feel sorry for that team..." Ruby smirked, "at least our team is way cooler."

"Well yeah... Bunk beds..." Her sister grinned jumping on the bottom bed.

"Yang I don't think it's safe to sleep under that... Bed." Pyrrha noted somewhat concerned with the bed that suspended in the air via ropes nailed to the ceiling. "That shouldn't even be possible." She shook her head in disbelief.

"Ughhhhh I hope we don't need to pay for any damage..." Jaune moaned looking at the huge stakes driven into the ceiling.

"Shall we get some dinner?" Pyrrha suggested trying to get Jaune's mind off of any financial consequences of their fellow teammate.

* * *

 ***Qrow's Apartment***

A concerned Qrow carrying a shell-shocked and bloody Raven emerged through a portal. He set her down on the sofa, making sure she was comfortable, or at least look comfortable she took off her boots one by one took them towards the door, realizing that her boots were covered in blood. So much blood. He then moved towards the restroom grabbing multiple towels and soaking them in warm soapy water.

He ran over to find Raven in a fetal position still trembling something fierce. He took the towel and began the process of wiping away blood from her face.

She flinched at his touch, her crimson eyes still looking out into space. Qrow had never seemed Raven this torn apart in his whole life. It was scaring him shitless. "Raven, hey you're alright now."

She just shook her head. After few more wipe downs and several bloody towels later, Raven looked somewhat less... Bloody. He got up quickly and scrambled to the kitchen. He searched the cupboards. Eureka! He found it. He set about filling the kettle with water.

After a few minutes of preparation, he had produced two cups of nightberry tea.

Qrow walked in and sat beside his sister, her back leaning into his shoulder, he handed her a cup with her favorite tea. She accepted it, giving a shaking and diminutive smile. "Thank you." She whispered. Qrow nodded as he watched his older sibling take in the aroma of the sweet but bitter tea.

For all his life, since thy were kids, Raven was one to protect him. For as long he remembered, she was always looking out for him. She protected him from their parents on numerous occasions. Several times she had taken beating for being too affectionate towards her weak sibling, as their parents told them. After one particularly harsh training session that left Qrow unconscious, she stood up for him, most likely saving his life, at the cost of getting beaten severely.

When the Legion attacked their family, murdered their parents, who gave their lives to save te Branwen siblings, it was Raven who carried Qrow to the cave that would be their home for years. It was Raven who hunted, cooked, washed the clothes, stole the money they needed, she did everything for him. Hell without her, he would be dead.

It was Raven who almost died, saving Qrow's life from the leader of the Legion of Ash, Tarce. It was the madman who had Qrow corner, ready to deliver the final blow until Raven showed up, blocking the death blow with her own blade. It was Raven who was put in a coma for a month after slashing the man's face with a dust blade and running it through his gut, at the terrible cost being suffering third-degree burns and several broken bones.

Even her running away from her family in her personal crusade to exterminate the last of the Legion, depriving herself of her lover, her daughter, her brother. She made a terrible sacrifice all in the name of loyalty and love.

Now here she was, the strongest person he had ever known, broken by gods no what. It was heart aching to see. He rubbed her shoulder comfortingly as she took a sip.

"Qrow..."

He turned to looked at his sister. "What's up?"

"I don't know if I can do it anymore." He patted her shoulder. He felt extreme levels of anger towards Ozpin. He shouldn't have dragged Raven into this. Whatever happened in that interrogation really messed with her.

"We'll figure it out, come on, go get yourself cleaned up, I still have some old clothes of yours."

* * *

 ***Beacon***

Jaune and Pyrrha looked at each other then back at Ruby. Then back at each other, then at Ruby.

"Sis you know you should probably eat you know... Real food...?"

Ruby puffed her cheeks out offended "I'll have you know they're good sources of calcium and protein."

"You need greens as well..." Jaune pointed out.

"Alright dad..." Ruby rolled her eyes. She looked at Jaune's plate with a sense of disdain. "Says the one who is eating everything deep fried. Where are your greens?"

"I eat my greens..."

Pyrrha chuckled "No he doesn't." Jaune turned to look at his partner, clutching his heart.

"I've been betrayed! You're supposed to have my back!"

"I do. Lying is unbecometh of a hunts me ."

Yang snickered "what other secrets does Jaune have?"

Pyrrha brought a finger to her chin thinking of the countless embarrassing things Jaune would want to hide. "Well there was one ti-" Jaune placed a hand over Pyrrha's mouth

"Story time is over." Ruby pouted while looked at Pyrrha.

"We'll have this conversation later. As for you Vomit Boy, your secrets will be mine..."

Jaune moaned, hitting his head off of the table. "What did I do to deserve this cruel fate..."

Yang laughed heartily "You puked on my favorite pair of boots."

Jaune hit his head off of the table again. "Let's just call it a night."

* * *

 ***Qrow's Apartment***

Raven emerged from the bathroom in rather unusual clothing. A simple black t-shirt and a pair of jeans. "Wow, I'm surprised these still fit." She muttered to herself.

Apparently Qrow overheard "Well you did stop growing when we entered Beacon." He said from the kitchen.

The shower felt amazing; it helped to settle of her strung out nerves. However, it didn't wash away the figurative blood that was Alpha. The fact that she was goaded by the man to kill him, outright. She wouldn't lie, she was downright terrified that she lost control like that. It was a side that was becoming increasingly downright petrifying. The man was right, she was turning into a monster.

She didn't know if she could be a monster anymore she had been hunting these bastards for years now and for what?

No gains and only her family being even larger targets now.

Why? Because she failed so long ago.

"How you feelin?" Qrow noted his sister taken a seat at the kitchen table.

"I... Don't know." She looked away. "Qrow, do you think I'm a monster?"

Qrow looked away from the frying pan he was manning. "What?" He sounded slightly hurt by the question.

"Seeing what I did... Do you think I'm a monster?"

Qrow brought a hand up to his forehead in exasperation. "No. Raven. I don't believe you're a monster." His response sudden and sharp which made her flinch away. "Sorry... Sorry..."Qrow sighed. "Raven, no I don't think you're a monster. You've been through a rough patch that's all."

"I drove a hammer into his head and kept on going..." She looked intently at the table, hands on the table clenched into fists.

Qrow took his sister's hands which made her look at him. "Listen... Whatever you do... it won't change the fact that you're my sister and that I love you... But Raven I have to be realistic, you need to take a step back. This thing... whatever it is you're doing, it's changing you."

She withdrew her hands frowning. "So you do think I'm a monster then..." Her voice was barely audible. She stood up.

"Raven that's not what I said... Please sit." She stopped a moment.

"Raven. Sit." Qrow commanded, tension in his voice. Usually it Raven was forceful, it was rare when Qrow stood up for something, but towards her it was serious, it was a new level.

She moved to sit down hesitantly. "I'm sorry, but I'm not going to let you run away over nothing. I think you need to lay off the hunts. You haven't taken any time to relax. I don't even think you know what a vacation is."

"But that one week during their graduation." Qrow raised a dismissive hand, smiling.

"That doesn't count... Listen you take some time, relax. You need to take a break."

Raven slammed her fist down on the table, anger in her eyes. "I. CAN'T! Everyone I care about is a target. He said they knew about them. Where they were, who they are. They are in more danger now than ever before!"

"Raven please just rela-" she stood up, picking her chair up and throwing it against the wall. The chair shattered into pieces when it crashed into the wall.

She turned around to look her brother in the eyes. The monster that just lashed out quickly faded away. What Qrow saw now was a scared cornered animal.

He took a step toward his sister raising his hands gently. She backed into a corner and slid down sobbing.

"Qrow what's wrong with me?" She said meekly.

"Nothing. He sat down beside her, hands draped over his knees. "If you want, I'll talk to Ozpin, don't worry I'll handle this."

"Qrow... I should be doing this." She said bitterly, her voice filled with exhaustion from a lifetime of fighting.

"You've been doing this for too long, share the load."

"But..."

"Nope. I'm taking over, you're taking a break. I'll talk to Ozpin and see what we can do about the Legion."

Raven looked at her brother, giving a genuine smile. She lunged at him giving him a bear hug.

"Thank you so much. You're the best brother anyone could have."

Qrow smirked "ya I know" Raven released him looking over the towards te shattered chair.

"Ah don't worry about it, it was getting wobbly anyways." He chuckled "You know what we haven't had in a long time?"

Raven raised an eyebrow.

"A movie night."

"That seems childish..." Raven gave a quizzical look. Gave a hand, which she took.

Qrow went to the cupboard produced two large bowls and four bags of popcorn. "Psht. Anyone can have movie nights besides... We kinda missed out on all the fun stuff growing up, might as well get caught up now." Raven rolled her eyes with a small smile. She went to the fridge to produce a large assortment of drinks, all of which were high in sugar.

The Branwens got situated, Qrow laying two absurdly large popcorn bowls on the living room table. Raven stood dumbfounded as Qrow darted away only to reemerge with a massive stack of blankets. "Now this is really childish."

"Shut it or you won't get any popcorn." He tossed the pile to Raven. Qrow grabbed a movie and stuck it into the DVD player hooked up to the t.v.

* * *

The movie was over, well, to be honest, trilogy. The popcorn was eaten, all that remained were the unpopped kernels. All of the soda bottles were empty. Qrow looked over to his sister was sleeping, head resting on the armrest of the sofa. Qrow quietly got up and draped a blanket over her.

Two exhausted crimson eyes looked at him.

"I wish we could have done these as kids..." She whispered quietly.

"Well, it's never too late." He whispered back.

"Qrow seriously thank you so much..."

"Don't worry about it, get some sleep." Raven let out a sigh of relief as if the weight of the world was lifted off of her shoulder. She closed her eyes with a smile. Qrow went to turn off the t.v. and wandered over to his spot, drifting off to sleep.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Alright guys... I know I've been kinda really busy today... don't ask.**

 **So here we go... Raven and Qrow bonding time... I won't lie warms my heart. We're also seeing some interactions between JYPR and BRWN.**

 **So I won't lie, writing the whole torture scene and the... breakdown of Raven, it was difficult. Really difficult for me, but it had to be done unfortunately. Shaded is gonna hate me but oh well...**

 **So that being said: Chapter 23 will be specifically JYPR and 24: will be Qrow and Raven specifically. Let me know if you want to see more mixing within chapters or keep them seperate as much as possible. Your opinions matter.**

 **Let me know what you think of the story so far, it means a lot.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	23. Beacon 4: Getting to Know the Team

**Beacon 4: Getting to Know the Team**

* * *

A beautiful quiet morning, the birds were chirping, the cool breeze came through. Jaune slept contently that is until Ruby woke up.

Ruby was a morning a person. When she woke up, she knew it was time to get started with the day. She jumped off of her suspended bed with a loud thud. In a red blur, she dashed to grab her uniform while darting into the bathroom slamming the door with a mighty slam.

Jaune fell out of his bed having been abruptly woken up by what he assumed was a cannonball. Jaune rubbed the sleep out his eyes only to see two green emerald orbs staring at him. Thy didn't look happy either. "Good morning Pyrrha." He gave an awkward chuckle, picking himself up from the ground.

"Nothing good about it." She muttered, annoyance seeping through. "What on Remnant was that?"

Jaune scanned the room, Yang was still asleep by some miracle. However, the deathtrap that was Ruby's bed was empty. "It must've been Ruby."

As if on cue the bathroom door slammed open. "GOOD MORNING!"

"Uhh Ruby you know we don't have to be in class till two more hours."

"Yep." She popped the 'P.'

"We were still sleeping." Pyrrha wiped the sleep from her eyes, shooting the younger redhead a rather intense stare

"Yep."

"Anything you want to say?" Pyrrha said through gritted teeth, trying to keep a smile.

"Nope!"

Pyrrha just stared at the girl as she darted over to her sister. "YANG! TIME TO GET UP!" Jaune stood by his partner amazed at how someone can be so energetic.

Yang replied back by rolling over. "Five more minutes." She muttered as she put a pillow over her head. Ruby would not be satisfied with this, she grabbed Yang by the foot and dragged her out of bed. "YAAAAAAAAANNNNGGGG." The blonde boxer fell to the floor with a thud.

Two lilac eyes opened, surveying the room. "Alright, alright, I'm up. Dibs on the shower." The blonde rushed out, slamming the door.

"It's way too early for this..." Jaune mumbled.

"Just a little." Pyrrha confirmed. Ruby climbed up on her bed already dressed for the day.

"You'll thank me later." Ruby hummed.

Minutes went by, then half an hour then an hour. Pyrrha looked at her scroll, how can someone take so long to shower? After an hour and fifteen minutes, Yang emerged with a plume of mist billowing out from behind her. Pyrrha then rushed forward slamming the door behind her.

"Took you long enough." Jaune complained as he laid back down on his bed. He'd be lucky if he could even get a five-minute shower.

Yang shot Jaune a warning glare. "Listen here Vomit Boy," she whipped her mane over her shoulder while running her hand through it. "It takes a lot of work to get this sexy beast all beautiful. And I'll be damned if anyone prevents that from happening. Got it?"

Jaune gulped and nodded.

Sensing that Yang was indeed not joking around, he kept his mouth shut. Thankfully it didn't take too long for Pyrrha to emerged from the bathroom. She gave Jaune a raised eyebrow as he sprinted towards the bathroom

He undressed and turned the shower on. Anticipating a nice, warm, relaxing stream he was greeted by something else.

Instead, he was bathing in the article. "Oh come on..." They had used up all the hot water.

 ***BANGBANGBANG*.**

"Jaune we all have fifteen minutes! Hurry up!" Ruby shouted as she pounded on the door. Jaune's eyes went wide with surprise.

"Jaune we're goin to be late!" Yang called out from a few snickers.

Jaune quickly turned off the water, not bothering to dry his hair. He scrambled to put on his uniform barely tying his tie hastily.

"Took you long enough Primadonna." Yang grabbed her bag as did everyone else. Pyrrha grabbed Jaune's bag as well and offered to him. "Rough morning?" She asked sympathetically.

"Ohhhh yeah..." Jaune sighed

The team had to miss breakfast, and Ruby was not happy about that. "This is your fault." Ruby jabbed her sister in the side with a finger.

"My fault? Don't be silly. You didn't wake me up early enough."

"It shouldn't take two hours to get a shower." Ruby threw her hands up in disbelievingly

The blonde sister looked down at her sister "Hey I don't want to hear it. Jaune was holding us up, not me."

"Well, I mean..." Yang shot Jaune a warning glare. He raised his hands defensively, backing down.

"We should probably keep moving." Pyrrha noted as she over passed her teammates.

* * *

Ozpin stood out in the courtyard admiring the beautiful morning. He took a particular note of the clouds gathering off in the distance. It was going to rain later. A pity to ruin such a beautiful day.

A small smile crept upon his face as he watched team JYPR running through the courtyard. The innocence of youth trying to be on time for their first ever class. He gave an inward chuckle watching as they scurried about. He could only feel the cold, unyielding glare that his assistant was giving them. "So unprofessional." She muttered. "This lackadaisical attitude is unbecoming."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow. "If I remember correctly you were the same way when you were in their shoes." Ozpin could only imagine the way Glynda was currently grinding her teeth.

Ozpin looked back towards the sky seeing a small black speck in the air growing closer and closer.

Indeed the speck had wings and would eventually take the form of a black bird, specifically a crow.

The bird cocked its head watching all the students run. Once the students were out of sight, the bird morphed into a tall, lanky man wearing a red torn up cape, short cropped up hair and two red beady eyes.

"Mr. Branwen a pleasure as always." Ozpin greeted after he took a sip from his mug. He noted that Glynda tensed up immediately seeing the former student, her hand tightening along her riding crop. "How is your sister?" He asked genuinely concerned.

"She isn't your concern. I should be your concern."

Ozpin took a sip, raising an eyebrow. "Well, then I suppose we should head to my office. I imagine you aren't here for pleasantries."

* * *

"Students!" The round, robust man with a full mustache greeted team JYPR. "Take a seat! You've just made in time for my intro!"

Jaune, Yang, Pyrrha, and Ruby took seats behind Team BRWN. Nora turned around waving but was quickly tapped on the shoulder by a watchful Ren.

"Believe it or not, I used to be a huntsman in your shoes. I was strong, by the gods I was strong! And handsome! My village looked up to me..." The bombastic old professor continued with his grandiose tales of his youth. "I was a hero but for what you may ask! Well, allow me to enlighten you."

Jaune casually drew several circles as Pyrrha took notes. Yang was too preoccupied, trying to compete with Ruby and her rather unflattering depictions of the old professor. Yang was on the verge of tears trying to hold in the laughter.

Jaune yawned as his eyelids grew heavier and heavier. The class had to be almost over. He looked up at the clock; ten minutes in.

It was going to be a long day... He sighed to himself. He looked over to Pyrrha who was studiously taking notes, and a lot of notes. He couldn't understand how she was able to be on her fifth page. She gave a brief glance back to Jaune, giving a smile. Her eyes wandered down to Jaune's notes.

Her smile started to fade away as quickly as it came. Jaune shrugged which made grow even more concerned. How could be not be taking notes?

"That's how you defeat a Deathstalker! Now remember students there will be a quiz on the anatomy of a Deathstalker as well as weak points. Now let us move on."

Jaune looked down to see an empty page of notes feeling a pang of regret. How could anyone decipher that man's tale of cabbages and a young bar maiden with useful information of a Deathstalker. He looked down the desks to see that even Yang and Ruby were taking notes. Jaune had no idea what he was getting into as a sense of dread started to bubble up. The round man cleared his throat to wake up some of the slower students.

"Who amongst us think they have the true blood of huntsmen in their veins?" His beady eyes scanning the room locking onto Jaune's. Jaune gulped.

"Ohhhh! Ohhh! Me! Meee!" Yang shot up waving her hand in the air.

"Miss Xiao Long is it?" He gave a grandiose hand wave. "Come down and meet your opponent." The blonde smirked cracking her knuckles as she confidently stepped down the stairs leading to the front of the classroom.

"Go Yang!" Ruby cheered.

"Good luck!" Pyrrha wished.

"Don't die!" Jaune encouraged. Port held his blunderbuss ax. Yang extended her gauntlet shotgun gauntlets, quickly shuffling her feet. The professor brought down the ax, smashing the massive lock on the cage. Two red eyes glared at Yang.

The Boarbatusk charged out of the gate snarling. Yang shot a few rounds which harmlessly bounced off of the Grimm's armor. The creature charged forward trying to impale the blonde brawler with its tusks. Yang quickly side stepped shooting a round at the creature's side. It howled in agony.

It quickly turned around while tucking itself in a ball and charging down at Yang. Yang unleashed a hellish salvo, the rounds simply just bounced off the speeding ball of Grimm. Welp that didn't work. She was going to be able to sidestep the Grimm. She did the unthinkable. She charged at the Grimm, her fist making contact with the Grimm, but it did little to slow down the Grimm as it trampled her. The creature turned around as Yang triggered her semblance, her hair igniting. She bursted forward gauntlet out. The Boarbatusk snarled as it charged her.

Yang saw her moment. She slammed her gauntlet into its mouth. Unleashing a devastating blast that blew up the Grimm from within. It collapsed to the ground, missing it's jaw, innards and well everything else but the bone.

"Ah Miss Xiao Long an excellent use of feigning weakness to overcome your foe! A tactical mastermind! Please take a seat." Yang smirked walking back up. Jaune gave a thumbs up.

The bell rang which signaled for the class to be dismissed. Everyone filed happily, Ruby chatting excitedly with her sister, while Pyrrha made a motion to walk beside him.

"Hey Pyr." He knew what was coming. "How was class?" he beat her to the punch.

"It went well." A hint of concern in tone. "What about you?"

"Good."

She looked at him, eyes narrowing slightly. "Jaune..."

"Seriously, I learned a lot!" He brushed her concern off.

She shook her head disapprovingly. "I saw your notebook... No notes... I would have expected that from Ruby and Yang..."

"I know Pyrrha."

Pyrrha frowned, shoulders sagging a little. "Sorry, I shouldn't be lecturing."

He tapped her shoulder with his own. "Hey, some people need some motivation once in awhile right?" Pyrrha smile returned still radiant as ever.

They moved towards their next class, Remnant History.

JYPR sat down with BRWN behind them. Jaune turned around to see his fellow captain "Fancy seeing you here."

Blake rolled her eyes giving a small smile. "This is an introductory course..." She reminded him.

A flash of white and green blurred past them. "Marvelous day! Good day! Possibly an extravagant day!" The teacher blurted out like a machine gun. "Today is the day where you begin your journey as official 1st years. I will have you all know I don't accept mediocrity. I expect the best from future huntsmen and huntresses." The man surveyed the room. "Any questions?"

Silence.

"Oh, how can I forget! I'm DR. Oobleck! Now let's get started, shall we? What can people tell me about the ancient Valesian Empire?" And that's when Jaune lost all focus. He rested his head on his hand, drifting off fully unaware.

*RING RING RING*.

"That is for class. Please read chapters five through twelve for next time! You're dismissed!" Oobleck said as he rushed out of the room.

One more class before lunch... Combat training.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Glynda Goodwitch pushed up the bridge of her nose "We have time for one more demonstration. How about...Cardin Winchester."

A tall armored clad boy stood up with a massive two-handed mace in his hands stood up as his heavy footsteps rang throughout the arena. Jaune gulped.

"You can do this." Pyrrha reassured him.

"Let's go Vomit Boy." Yang smirked.

"You got this Fearless Leader." Ruby cheered.

Jaune stood up. Walking down the staircase, he could feel the glare from Cardin. He entered the ring.

Jaune assumed his combat stance drawing Crocea Mors and extending his shield as the brute of the man hefted his mace over shoulder.

"BEGIN!"

The giant lurched forward at a surprising speed assault in Jaune with fierce swings. Jaune was able to barely able to defend himself. The mace kept crashing down with powerful swings. Even though the mace was warded off by his shield, each swing lowered his aura just from the sheer concussive force. He looked at his aura bar, 50%.

'Remember to always be adaptive. What may work one opponent may not work for others.' Raven voice reminded the Arc.

The mace swung wildly and with great force, there a was lack of finesse and reservation. The pure offense was his defense, trying to match that would be suicidal.

The mace down cracking the tiles where Jaune had been.

The metal behemoth charged swing his mace wildly as Jaune rolled out of the way.

* * *

"Jaune finally caught on..." Pyrrha whispered to herself in the stand.

"Caught on to what?" Yang asked questionably "He's just rolling around."

"Exactly." Ruby noted as she watched intently. "He can't fight him tie to toe, so he's waiting for a mistake."

* * *

The mace reached out around as Jaune leaped back. A close one. "Fight me like a man!" Cardin roared in fury as he brought the mace down again causing Jaune to dive out of the way which only infuriated the iron clad boy.

The mace wielder was slowing down quite a lot. His swings become more chaotic, more predictable. The boy was breathing hard.

He charged forward swinging the mace downward. What Cardin had not expected was for the coward to step into the swing, the blonde raised his shield over his head as the mace connected and lurched forward with Crocea Mors aimed at the boy's chest.

Jaune grunted as the mace connected but was rewarded with a stunned and confused Cardin. Jaune lunged himself at Cardin, swinging his sword at the giant's legs.

He crumpled to the ground, reaching for his mace. He looked up to see a sword pointed at his throat.

"That's the match." Glynda called.

The lights came back on. Jaune could see his team giving him all smiles, thumbs up and waves. "Students, Mr. Arc has demonstrated that it is essential to revise your strategy in the middle of a fight. However, I would recommend you wait for an opening instead of making one for yourself." The instructor looked at Cardin. "Mr. Winchester has shown a prime example of getting carried away in battle. Next time try to control your emotions and be aware of your opponent's tactics." Cardin growled, glaring at the weakling who managed to beat him by being a coward. This would not be forgotten.

"That will be all. You are excused." Glynda dismissed the class as she left the arena.

Jaune made a move towards his team when he felt a large hand on his shoulder. Jaune startled turned to be looking at a very pissed of Cardin.

"You were being a pussy. I should have guessed you don't have the balls to fight me like a man." Jaune gulped when he realized he was surrounded by Team CRDL.

"Why don't we settle it like men. Now." Jaune looked around to realize that Glynda wasn't there. Well... Crap.

"Get your hands off of him if ya know what's good for you." A pissed of Yang stormed down, her normal lovely lilac eyes now burning red, her gauntlets were fully extended. Ruby followed with Crescent Rose aimed right at the hostile team leader. What was most disturbing was Pyrrha.

She showed no emotion except for the unyielding glare she had for team CRDL, her hands gripping Milo and Akouo tightly. She passed Yang without giving her another look. Without warning, Pyrrha flung her shield aimed right for Cardin.

It connected, smashing into his head. He fell to the ground with the rest of CRDL taking several steps back. She out stretched her arm and caught the shield.

Cardin pulled back to find a glaring Amazoness. "You lost the match. Accept the results like a man or act like a child, but you ever try something outside of a sanctioned match. I'm going to break all the bones in your body. Are we clear?"

Cardin stared at the redhead mouth agape.

Pyrrha pulled out Milo and pointed it Cardin's neck. A millimeter away from his throat.

Jaune put a hand on Pyrrha's shoulder. She lifted up the sword ever so slightly. "Pyr let's go." She lifted up her sword and turned to walk off with the rest of her team.

Yang cracked her knuckles loudly while Ruby folded her scythe up and stuck her tongue out.

They all walked out of the arena.

* * *

"And Jaune was like hiyah!" Ruby claimed her arms, trying to pretend she was a ninja.

"We all know sis... We were there." Yang rolled her eyes.

"Then Pyrrha was just like imma fling my shield and got a head shot! Ugh. So cool!" She cooed over the Fight.

Pyrrha won't lie she didn't feel a bit of shame for her actions. Cardin attempted to bully someone she cared about and she would not let that stand. She had hoped future messages would not be necessary but Pyrrha was ready to deliver.

"Nice fight." Everyone turned around to see Blake looking over all of them.

"Thanks Blake. You wanna join us?"

Blake blinked looking unsure. "Well... I would over to but I need to prevent Weiss from trying to strangle Nora..."

"Poor you..." Yang whistled lowly.

"They aren't always that bad..."

 ***CRASH* *BANG***

Blake sighed, exhausted. "Yeah they can be pretty bad."

Jaune chuckled look over to the rest of BRWN. "Well, hey your team can join us whenever you want." He looked over to his team. "Right guys."

Ruby and Pyrrha smiled. Yang was a little bit more reluctant and gave a shaky smile. It didn't go unnoticed by Blake. "Maybe next time."

"Alright sounds good, see ya later Blake." She nodded with her farewell.

At that, Jaune finished up his meal. "Well I'm going to see if I can reteach myself Port's class." He stood up "... And Oobleck."Jaune sighed as he left his team.

Pyrrha was about to join him Ruby asked "Soooo Pyrrha... How did you meet Jaune?"

"Well you see..." She was cut off by Yang.

"Ohohoh I love gossip about love birds do tell." Yang gave a cheeky smirk.

"I was an orphan and his dad happened to find me and took me in." The sisters' smile quickly faded.

"Pyrrha-"

"It's fine. Don't worry about it." The redhead stood up with a blank face. "If you'll excuse me, I need to get some training in."

Ruby shook her head at Yang. "I told you to stop..."

Yang looked somewhat offended. "Me? You're the one who asked." Ruby puffed out her cheeks

"Well I wasn't going to harass them over it, unlike a certain someone."

Yang looked down sullenly. "I didn't mean anything by it…"

* * *

Pyrrha walked into the room still flustered by today. Jaune was out cold. Something touched him. He swatted at the thing.

She poked again and again.

"Jaune wake up..."

"No, go away." He mumbled, swatting his assailant's finger.

"Jaune. You're not going to get any homework done asleep."

She saw a lazy sapphire eye glare at her. He slowly arose like a mummy coming out of their tomb. " .Fine." He yawned. He looked around the room only to see a beautiful redhead- scratch that- partner. However her content herself was not there, it was more saddened one. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She said defensively.

Pyrrha sighed looking away for a brief moment. "Pyr you can talk to me, you know I won't say anything."

"I might have reacted a little to harsher to Yang's teasing." She admitted.

"Yang? Well she doesn't mean anything by it."

"Well I might have let my.. unique past slip."

Jaune nodded. "So what seems to be the problem then?"

"I don't know... I just don't... I don't know... I don't want any special treatment."

"I don't think that'll be an issue. They seem like really nice people." Pyrrha sat there, bringing her finger to her chin, humming in thought. Jaune was hardly wrong when it came guessing the intention of others. He made excellent calls in judgment and more importantly he always made them I'm regards to Pyrrha.

She relented. "You're right." She was never open with people. She rarely if ever went out of her way to meet people. Now here she was coming to terms with meeting Yang and Ruby. They were certainly nice enough. Just being upfront about her past something Pyrrha could never come to terms with.

She wondered down the hall passing several students, keeping her head down.

She wondered down the hall passing several students, keeping her head down.

"Hello, Pyrrha." The redhead looked up to see the calm oriental boy named Ren greeted her.

"Hello." Her voice lost much of its natural brightness.

He looked at her intently for a brief moment. "I would do it." He said casually.

She cocked her head raising an eyebrow. "I'm sorry what."

Ren gave a small, sincere smile. "You look terribly conflicted, as if you're unsure if you should do something. Sometimes it's just better to take a risk than not too at all."

The redhead thought on that for a moment. He wasn't necessarily wrong. She nodded. "Thank you, Ren." He gave a slight sharp bow and walked away.

Well, might as well take a risk.

* * *

Ruby hated the library. Actually literally despised it. There was nothing to do there besides read. Don' he wrong , she loved to read but only when it was her books. Not for Oobleck's class.

"Come on Rubes, we need to study." Yang muttered as she continued going through a textbook on Grimm anatomy.

Ruby lifted head up from the textbook rather surprised at what her sister said. "You?! Of all people study?!"

Yang gave a knowing smirk. "Well yeah, you work hard now so you can slouch later." Ruby facepalmed.

The two sat in uncomfortable silence until Yang closed her book pinching the bridge o her nose letting out an exasperated sigh. There was another reason why they went to the library that wasn't entirely academic.

After since Pyrrha had told them the truth of what happened, there was an uneasy, unspoken tension in JYPR.

Ever since finding out the truth, Ruby wanted to apologize for Yang's behalf and her own. However, anytime Ruby was about to make a move, Pyrrha disappeared which only fed into Ruby's own guilt. However, it was eating at Yang.

Yang had a habit of teasing people. However, when it crossed the line, Yang reacted badly. She seemed more on edge, more exhausted, just more not her chirpy self anymore.

Yang closed her textbook with a defeated sigh. She rested her head on her hand.

"Maybe we should just talk to her?" Ruby suggested as she closed her book.

"I don't want to make things worse," Yang said distantly. "I already messed up."

"We." Her sister corrected.

"I guess so…"

"You mind if I join you?"

Ruby almost fell out of her seat being startled from the older redhead. "Uh-Uhh- Hi?!" She blurted out startled. "Uh no of course not!" She quickly recovered.

"Thank you." She said in a neutral tone as she sat in front of the two sisters. She sat there, brow furrowed either from anger or deep in thought.

Ruby looked at Yang then Pyrrha then back. Three thought in silence. Ruby, in particular, did not like standoffs, especially between her friends. Sure, she had just met Pyrrha and Jaune, but they seemed like pretty decent people. They spent initiation day together after the blow from Weiss, so yes she did consider them friends. "Pyrrha, listen we're sorry, we didn't know what you went through," Ruby explained as she could feel emerald eyes staring intently at her.

"Yeah, if I could, I would take back everything I said." Yang said sullenly. Ruby looked over her sister. She was usually a ray of sunshine, yeah she got angry, but in reality, she quickly brushed it off. However this Yang wasn't jovial, snarky, or fun loving. "P, I'm so sorry." Her sister confessed.

"I know this seems childish when I say it but I was hoping we all could all remain friends." Ruby fidgeted with hands. Yang was doing no better she was looking at the table as if it was the world's most attractive table. "I mean-"

Pyrrha lifted up her hand which made Ruby freeze.

"I should be the one to apologize, to both of you."

"Why?" Yang asked, her brow knit in confusion.

"Well to be honest… I'm not used to... dealing with people. I mean Jaune is literally the closest friend I have. I'd do anything for him." She looked at the table, avoiding eye contact. "Of course I had friends back home, but Jaune always introduced, he made me feel included. To me… it felt more superficial." Yang and Ruby nodded.

"Jaune has always done his best to make me feel included, but to be honest, I've always felt like an outsider. I mean I was adopted…. And I don't know…. I never really brought it up to anyone really. I've been on edge for the past couple of days. I apologize."

Ruby understood all too well what it was like to lose family with the loss of her own mom. She desperately wanted it all to be a lie, to see her mom walk in the front door, bringing cookies. However, that was not the case. That crushed her, and if it wasn't for Yang, Ruby didn't know if she would be the same her. But to lose your entire family? That was something that Ruby could never understand. She wanted to, but couldn't.

"Hey, I get it, nothing wrong with that. We all get worn down from time to time. I'll lay off of ya. I promise." Yang nodded, understanding the redhead.

The redhead nodded with a small smile. "As long as you can forgive me."

"Of course we do!" Ruby chimed in with a warm smile. However, it faded. "Pyrrha listen, I know you don't know us too well, but I was hoping you could trust us. We would never betray your trust." For her usual chirpier moment, Ruby scared herself sometimes at how mature she could sound at times. "Right Yang?" Yang nodded enthusiastically.

Pyrrha's smile grew larger. "I'm glad we were put on the same team." Her smile grew larger as she saw Ruby and Yang smile. "A team of friends."

She wondered down the hall passing several students, keeping her head down.

 **A/N**

 **Hi guys!**

 **Qrow talking to Ozpin? I wonder what about huh?**

 **So we got to see Beacon first day was. And Cardin.. Cardin…. *sigh* what a jerk…. I hope he doesn't try to pull a stunt, that would really piss off everyone especially Pyrrha…. And an angry Pyrrha is not a fun Pyrrha.**

 **So next chapter is going more Raven and Qrow chapter which I'm excited for. We're goin see what's goin on after her serious mental breakdown, I wonder how she's doing… I hope she's hanging in there but we'll see... However some of you are going to hate me for what I'mma do xD**

 **The point of this chapter was to show how some of the different personalities within the team. Yang and Ruby will be divergent from canon in certain aspects while in other aspects, not so much. However, this was the first full day as a team, so they still aren't too sure where the lines for each other are... cause if you cross some lines... oopsy xD Anyway I hope we all got a slight feel for characters and the team overall. A**

 **All I'm going to say is that Shaded is going to be hating me more and more as the story goes on :D.**

 **Hey if you like the chapter please let us know! Special thanks for OverDude12, Wes, and Soulfulbard for the fantastic reviews.**

 **If you liked the chapter, please feel free to leave a review, pm, fav or follow. I read all of them and try to respond to all of them. I love to see what you guys think so much**


	24. Beacon 5: Reunion

Chapter 24: Reunion

It had been several days since her breakdown. Raven was for sure not accustomed to the sedentary life. However, she did keep herself busy or at least tried to.

As Qrow went to see Ozpin she kept to herself. She grew familiar with Qrow's extensive collection of movies. She cooked, although not very well. She always relied on Tai for that.

Speaking of which, he's been more and more occupying her thoughts. She wanted to make contact, to check in to make sure he was alright; she hesitated several times. She wanted to know if he was safe, if Yang was safe, but she was told not to worry about them. According to Qrow, he had everything under control. For once, she had full and complete faith in something, in him.

She had several urges to contact Tai, to keep in touch, to see if old bridges could be rebuilt. She was more than willing now, but something nagged in the back of her mind. That ever-present fear of associating herself with him would make him a target, then again, he was already a target... The whole situation was maddening. She sighed shaking her head, trying to empty her mind of such thoughts.

She got up from the couch feeling slightly hungry. She decided it would probably be time for her to make some food, for herself and Qrow. Or at least attempt too.

A swirling sound emanated from the living marking the arrival of her younger brother Qrow. "What smells like a dying cat...?" He gave a disgusted look, leaning on the doorway to the kitchen. Raven flashed a brief hostile look that looked so natural to her. "You know I was okay with making both of us food, but now I think I'm even more hungry."

He chuckled, "would you spare me for I have no food!" He mock pleaded.

She shook her head, rolling her eyes with a faint smile on her lips. "I suppose." She pulled a ladle from one of the drawers and two bowls from a cupboard. She poured two large bowls of chili.

Qrow was hesitant. He knew his sister's tendency was to lean towards spicy foods, and that was putting it mildly. The two sat at the kitchen table. Raven was watching intently as her brother hesitantly took a spoonful of chili to his mouth and took a bite.

Qrow won't lie. It was a masterful blend of spice and savory meat. It was quite good, except for the odd tickling sensation in the back of his throat. Then it started to spread.

Before he knew his mouth felt as if he drank molten lava with coals for ice cubes. He darted over to the fridge and started to chug down milk from the jug. Raven couldn't hold it in. She busted up laughing. "Still don't have the tolerance for good food." She said light heartedly. Qrow glared at her as he put the milk jug back in the fridge.

Raven pointed.

Qrow looked down to see his shirt was covered in milk. "Shi-"

"Language." Raven harped. Qrow grumbled as he went back to his chair. Raven kept chuckling to herself as she pulled out a bowl from the fridge and placed it before her grumpy brother. "It's more palpable for you." She sat back down and actually started to enjoy the fruits of her own labor.

Qrow hesitantly ate a spoonful, still suspicious but kept going. After finishing their meals, Qrow was at the sink cleaning their silverware. "So I have some news." Raven instantly perked up, masking staring neutrally at her brother. "I talked to Ozpin."

She ran her hand through her proud black mane of hair in anticipation.

"I don't know if you're going to like it..."

"Qrow please just say it."

"Well I told him about the threats. And Ozpin suggested that to compensate you for your... Work, that myself, Tai, and you would be accepted as instructors at Beacon."

Her eyes narrowed. "Of course living arrangements would be made for all of us."

Silence.

Moments passed.

"I can't," she said bitterly.

Qrow put down a dish in the sink and turned to face his sister. "Why not?"

"I can't..." She repeated, even darker now

"Raven..."

She clenched her fists. "I don't want to hurt Yang or Tai, hell even Ruby! They're all my responsibility! I was supposed to watch over all of them. I let them all down when Summer died. I let Summer down..." Her voice trailed off.

"I don't understand... How-"

"I would be a constant reminder to them that I was not apart of their lives for 17 years. I would remind them of how I abandoned them. Those bridges are gone. I don't want my judgment clouded when I need to protect them." Qrow could hear the bitterness in her voice, the longing, the anger.

"Nope." Qrow popped the "p."

She raised an eyebrow

"It won't cloud your judgment. It'll give you motivation. You can lie to yourself all you want. But I know my sister. You've wanted to get in touch with everyone ever since you left. It's time for you to pick up the life that you left behind. It's time for you to come back. I know it. You want it." He placed a confident hand on her shoulder. "I know you're scared. That's normal. But you aren't alone. Remember Yang's graduation? Tai didn't freak out, in fact, I think he might have been happy to see you. I know for sure Yang and Ruby were. I think... Know". Qrow corrected himself. "That they want you in their lives."

She let out an exhausted sigh. "No one ever said it would be easy." Qrow chuckled.

"Yeah... you're right." She admitted. She sat there, time freezing for her. "Qrow... I don't know what I'd do without you."

Qrow placed a finger on his chin in thought. "Be darker, gloomier, depressing, no fun, boring, old-"

"Alright." She gave him a light punch on the shoulder. "I get it."

"In all honesty, Rae I could say the same for you. Remember my fifteenth birthday? You acquired a cake by other less than honest ways."

Raven nodded fondly. "Hey the bakery had multiple chocolate cakes, they weren't going to miss one." Her smile grew larger at the memory. "Besides, my brother wasn't going to have a birthday without a cake."

"Hehe, I suppose." He scratched the back of his head.

"So when do we do it?"

He gave her a questioning look.

"Become teachers." She answered.

"Whenever you're ready."

Her eyes widened with surprise. "Isn't there a process? Classes I need to take? I mean it took you a month to become a teacher at Signal."

It was Qrow's turn to give a questioning look. "Even though I've been off the radar, doesn't mean I don't keep tabs on everyone."

He nodded. It made sense after all. She was always a guardian angel. "Not with Ozpin, you know how he is with procedures."

"So what am I teaching then... Gods, I'm, calling myself a teacher... Who would have imagined." She thought out loud. She definitely didn't have the look of a teacher. She couldn't think of wearing proper clothes beside her battle kimono. She was used to wearing combat clothing that she had several battle kimonos, but she hardly owned civilian clothing. That changed when she unofficially officially moved in with Qrow. He made sure of that. If teaching required anything done to her hair, she was going to nope out. Nothing was going to touch her hair.

However dressing like a teacher is nothing compared to having a teaching attitude. She honestly didn't know if she had it in her. Could she work with kids? She killed people with her bare hands. Sure, she had very close ties with Jaune and Pyrrha, but that was through family relations. They understood she had blood on her hands to save them. Yang and Ruby knew that she had blood on her hands to defend them. They seem to be very happy to see her when she visited for graduation. But teaching other students? That was something else entirely. What if she blanked out? What if she lost her temper?

"You'll be fine. You won't 'lose' it." Qrow read her mind.

"You don't know that." She insisted.

Qrow shook his head. "You've come back from a pretty bad spot Rae, that only adds to your own strength."

Raven looked away "Or wears you down even further. ". She muttered.

"Always an optimist. You don't let things break you. You always manage to pick yourself back up."

Raven rolled her eyes. "Enough of the cheesiness already."

"Got it."

However did linger in her mind. "Did you tell him?"

"No." He answered.

"I'll go." Raven said hesitantly.

"Rae you sure? I can do it. Really I'm fine with it." Qrow insisted however it was pointless. Raven was already up, back to her room and changing into her combat gear. She grabbed her odachi. "Well, I need to start somewhere."

* * *

Taiyang was busy. The beginning of the school year was the worst time. So much time was spent over administration less time on hand to hand combat teaching. Not to mention papers, so many papers to grade.

To say that he was tired was an understatement. He took out his keys and unlocked the front door.

It was the same without Yang or Ruby. The house felt... off. But now with Summer gone, Qrow doing whatever he does and Raven in the shadows, Tai felt incredibly lonely. The opened the door which would have usually been greeted by an ecstatic Zwei. However, no barks, no bouncing corgi.

"Zwei?" He older huntsmen called out. "Come on boy." He stepped inside the house. Silence. Instantly the worst thing popped into his mind.

"Zwei?" He looked all over the living room. That's when he felt it. He wasn't alone. His hands started to glow in aura. "Come on out." He turned the corner to which Tai's heart almost gave out. His jaw slacked as his lands slightly lowered, still glowing in yellow aura.

There she sat looking somewhat nervous giving Tai a shaky smile. "Sorry. I would have said something but..." She whispered nervously. She pointed down to her lap. Tai looked over to see a sleeping Zwei passed on her lap, her other hand lazily scratching behind one of his ears.

The closer he approached, the more she more she seemed uncomfortable. He decided to sit across from her, keeping a respectable distance between the former spouses. Taiyang would be lying if he said he was comfortable with all of this. Here he was being greeted by his estranged first wife. The one that left her family over 17 years ago, and besides revealing herself a couple of weeks ago, was nonexistent through those years. Here she was staring right back at him, unreadable.

He buried all of these feelings tried to lighten the mood. "Well, you were always good with animals." Taiyang complimented her with a slight chuckle.

"I suppose so." She noted calmly.

"You can move him. He sleeps like a rock."

"It'll wake him though…" Raven looked down at the corgi that was contently dreaming on her lap.

"Trust me, Ruby drops him all the time, he doesn't wake up." Raven eyes slightly widened with a little concern. "Not on purpose of course…." He quickly corrected. She gently scooped up the the corgi, who didn't even budge, and set him down on the ground.

"So what bring you in our humble abode?" Tai asked masking his suspicion and to be honest, his hope. "I'm sure it wasn't to visit me." Tai noted as she cringed ever so slightly at the last comment.

"Well….I… you see..." Raven fumbled around trying to find the right words. "I want to to see if we could…. I don't know…. I know what I did is unforgivable to all of you. You, Yang, Ruby. I left all of you…." She hesitated. "Summer….."

She shook her head, looking at the table. "I should have come back when she….. moved on….."

"Raven. I'm sorry I didn't mean anything by it. I'm just surprised that's all."

Raven slowly nodded. "I was hoping…. I don't know…. If we could move on from this, put the past behind us. I know if you can't, that's completely understandable. I wouldn't hold it against you. I'll always be haunted by that."

Tai straightened up with a blank face. How did this happen? Did she finish her mission? Was she finally hanging up her sword and coming home to her family. H knew the answer right away. "Yes."

"Yes?" Raven sounded unsure. She expected more of reaction. Anger, sadness, anything. He expected him to be outright angry.

"It won't be easy, but yeah." Tai gave a small smile which made Raven smile. It had been so long seeing his first love smile like that, back when they were in Beacon, back when they were married, back when Yang was born.

"We've always been fighters," Raven smiled fondly, a tone of remembrance overtaking her.

"Yep." Tai agreed. "So does that mean your mission is over?"

Raven's smile instantly evaporated. Tai knew the answer right away. "Yes." She was lying, he could tell. "Ozpin is offering our team teaching jobs at Beacon… under the condition that you live on Beacon."

Tai didn't understand. Why was she lying? Why couldn't she just tell him the truth? "No. I'm not leaving Patch. I grew up here. I raised our family here." He stressed 'our' to the point that it made her flinch. "Raven I know when you're lying to me. Don't play me like an idiot." The pain was now starting to come out. The two sat in silence.

"Why did you really come here?" He broke the silence. Raven looked at him remorsefully. Yeah, he felt guilty, but starting to build bridges based on of lies only means it's destined to collapse later, and if she was serious about this, no matter how noble the intention, he was not going let her lie.

"You're in danger, I've managed to get Ozpin to help you all out."

"I don't care if Oum himself demands that I leave Patch, I'm not leaving. I can handle myself."

Raven slammed her hands on the table standing up in protest. "You don't get it. They know about you. They know about Yang and Ruby. Don't you see moving to Beacon you have a better chance to protect them." There was the fiery, passionate woman he had fallen in love with.

"So what?! I'm their father, I'll protect. I've done for years without, without Summer." Tai snarled.

Raven shook her disapprovingly. "You don't get it. Without me, they would be dead." Her tone condescending

Tai stiffened up, clearly confused.

"Remember the home invasion? That wasn't Qrow who was there. That was me. I killed the assassin before he could get away. You don't get it; they know about you now. One of their agents confirmed it. I don't care what I have to do, but I will protect our family Tai, I will protect Summer's family. Even if it means dragging your unconscious body back to Beacon." She leaned in closer on the table, her voice dropping lower. "I've dealt with these people for a long time. They've been hunting me just as much as I've been hunting them. They've taken too much from me, and I'll be damned if they take anyone else from me. I owe it to all of you. I owe it to summer." She bore into him with her fiery crimson eyes. "I'm not going to let MY friend, my whatever we are now, die from the bastards who took so much from me already. I know I'm being selfish right now, but I can't afford to lose you Tai, or Yang, or Ruby. I can't afford to lose anyone."

Tai sat there taking it all in. She was right. From the little Raven had said about her childhood, he gathered that she has always been on the run, or at least under the radar. She didn't talk about it much, but it was clear it still affected her to this very day.

"What about our home Rae? The girls grew up here. They won't understand."

She eased herself off the table, the fierceness subsiding. "We'll figure that out when we get there, right now their safety is the top priority." He nodded in agreement.

Tai looked at her intently. Those red eyes showed the determined huntress he had fallen in love with. The stubborn, loving, caring, strong, hardass that she was. It was good to have her back. However, something nagged at him.

"I'm sorry I let you down." Tai muttered dejectedly. "When you left... I was weak and with Summer... Things happened. She helped me with Yang. One thing led-"

"Tai please stop." The determined voice was replaced by a gentle, soothing voice. "I wanted you to be happy. You were happy with Summer, I can't blame you for that. I was...am so incredibly thankful that the two of you looked after Yang. I will always be in Summer's debt."

"Rae..."

"Really." She sat down beside Tai clasping her hand. He remembered how soft her touch was after all these years. "I promise to look after all of you," as if sensing the unspoken question, "Even Ruby. I'll treat her as if she were my own daughter. I'm no Summer nor could I ever live up to her, but I will do my best."

Tai was truly touched. This was the women from 17 years ago when they had Yang. "Rae I don't eve know what to say."

She gave a beautiful, shy smile, something that she was not known for. "Don't it's fine."

After a few minutes of enjoying the smile. Two spoke up. "You know what we're teaching?"

"No idea..." She said somewhat nervously.

"Oh you'll do fine. " He squeezed back. The smile didn't come back. "What's wrong?"

"I've changed Taiyang. I'm not the same as I used to be. "

He chuckled. "I'm not worried. You're still the same woman I remember meeting on the bullhead."

Raven, however, was not convinced, she nodded hesitantly. "When do you think you'll be ready?"

"Give me a couple of minutes."

* * *

A portal opened up as Tai stepped through carrying several duffel bags, followed by Raven carrying a sleeping Zwei.

"Wow, Rae this is. A nice place you got here."

"We'll you see-".

"Her place?! Don't make me laugh. She wouldn't know what to do with herself if she lived here." A gruff voice called out.

"You old crow, get your dusty ass out of here." Qrow emerged from the kitchen. "Well well... If it isn't Mr. I'm Going To Skip Work Today... You know I had sub for your class today? And let me tell you, me and forges don't mix well."

"For a big man, you whine a lot. I don't know what Rae saw in you." He punched his best friend's arm.

"Qrow..." Raven warned.

"Wha? I'm just sayin he's big fella man, you would think he would have thicker skin."

"Hey I-" Taiyang was about to defend himself when the older Branwen punched her brother in the arm harder than usual. "Shut it." He rubbed his shoulder vigorously.

"So when do we all get orientated?" The huntress asked.

"Tomorrow." Qrow smiled. It was good to see almost all of his team back. If only Summer were here.

"Well considering how the team is all here, let's get some food."

"Pizza?" The blonde huntsmen suggested.

"Pizza." Qrow confirmed.

The only huntress rolled her eyes. "Still unhealthy as ever I see." The two huntsmen gave her puppy eyes. A smile cracked. "Fine."

* * *

A lot of time was spent catching up and eating. Remembering fond memories, happy and painful. Everything was reflected. It was good to hear about Yang and the stories about her little firecracker.

She smiled listening to the tales of Ruby. Apparently, she took a great deal from her mother not just physically, but personality wise as well. She felt guilty no being apart of the young Rose's life, but she promised to be there for her just as Summer took in her Yang.

As the night drifted to a close everyone sacked out in the living room. Qrow was sprawled out on the floor while Taiyang was all bundled up.

Raven laid on her back, hands resting on her chest. She listened as Qrow mumbled in his sleep. She listened to the breathing of her lover. It was rather soothing.

"Rae you awake?" A slightly groggy voice called from the dark, she knew who it belonged to.

"Yeah" she muttered as she continued to hear the incoherent mumbling of her sleeping brother.

"It's good to have you back." A sleepy Tai whispered.

"Honestly, it's good to be back. "

* * *

A swirling vortex of black and red formed in the emerald tower. Out stepped the survivors of Beacon's best team that was ever formed.

"I really need to get one of those..." Tai said in amazement.

"And you say as long as you can picture the area and have aura you can create a portal?"

"Yep, it's pretty nifty." Qrow hung Shadow Wing along his. Back.

"They do have the habit of causing some real bad side effects if used too long." Raven chimed in. The other Branwen hit the summon elevator button. The elevator door opened to reveal a rather serious looking Ozpin, his brow scrunched up as if in deep thought. Glynda stood beside him tapping on her scroll furiously.

"I'm sorry I don't have to brief you in my office, a student has been severely injured. If you'll follow me."

The five of them headed over to the medical ward. "Ozpin are they going to be alright?" Tai asked

"I believe so however, the situation behind the injury is rather perplexing."

"We just received Miss Nikos report." Glynda muttered.

Raven and Qrow looked at each other. Something was off. Terribly off.

"What happened." Raven asked with a sense of urgency in her voice. Why was she concerned over this? Tai thought to himself injuries were common in a huntsmen school.

They reached the ward to find a blonde haired student unconscious. His arm in a cast, side wrapped up.

"Ozpin. What happened here?" Raven growled, clenching her fist.

"We are still determining that." Ozpin said.

Just then the door opened revealing a yang, Ruby, and Pyrrha. The three women look at the five adults. "Mom, Dad, Uncle Qrow?" Yang asked as her jaw dropped.

Raven's heart sank. She turned around to face a rather shocked yang.

"Why are doing you here?" Raven asked.

"We're here to check on our team leader." Ruby clarified.

"I'm impressed that Jaune was able to make team leader..." Qrow whispered to his sister. Apparently, Tai overheard.

"How do you know this boy?" He asked suspiciously.

Shit. Raven thought to herself 'well might as well tell the truth.' "I trained him."

Everyone's jaw dropped besides Pyrrha's.

 **A/N**

 **Sup peeps!**

 **We got some more Raven and Qrow, cause imma softy and I love those two.**

 **So yall probs going to hate me right now… oopsy… So the leftovers of (S)TRQ are comin to Beacon? Well snap…. Raven kinda unsure about the whole teaching business (I don't blame her….)**

 **Raven meeting up with Tai? This was tricky to write. I hope I was able to catch the emotion of it. I mean Raven hadn't seen him for a very long time. Tai well…. He would be stunned at first and let's be a little honest, bitter at first. However, when it comes to family, He comes to realize how dedicated she is…. Maybe not dedicate? Overzealous? Let's go with that. Let me know what you think. Did I capture the feels? It's one thing I'm constantly trying to improve on, so any feedback helps greatly.**

 **Raven and Zwei? Yeah that's a thing, no regrets.**

 **The ending? Huh. Jaune out cold… Gee I wonder how that happened and the reveal. How do you think Ruby, Tai, and Yang are going to take Raven's big news? Qrow letting it slip…. For shame.**

 **I didn't have time to get back to individual reviews so I'm going to do it here.**

 **Guest WTF: Yeah I know… it takes a long time to get your hair all ready for class.**

 **Wes: Always appreciated man, I love seeing you leaving a review… give it some time with Blake. Just so you know: Shattered Blake is not RWBY Blake.**

 **Patleon: Thanks for the review as always mate! I know, Pyrrha got went a little overboard huh? But no one threatens Jaune with her their. People and Grimm who do tend to get wrecked lol. The way I look at it, Pyrrha is extremely protective because he was her first and truly friend. A friendship that hopefully seems higher than being besties. Hopefully I portrayed that well enough.**

 **Icecool: I can see what you mean. I wanted to portray Jaune the fight as in a quick and decisive fight. Jaune was caught a little of guard by Cardin's speed and ferocity. However, Cardin was too aggressive and reckless, Jaune took a gamble and ended the fight with a bash and leg swipe. Raven would teach get to know your enemy and efficiently eliminate them. That's how I wanted to feel, sorry it didn't seem like that.**

 **Anywho, if you liked the chapter, please feel free to leave a review, favorite, follow, or pm. I love to hear from all of you. Tell me what you thought of chapter, did I get the feels? What do you think happened to Jaune? How is Yang, Ruby, and Tai goin to react? What do you think Raven taking a step out of her comfort zone?**

 **Thanks for reading as always!**

 **Big announcement: I am in the middle of making another story: A real life High School and College A/U on the scale of Shattered. That being said, it isn't going to be all happy and sunshines, indeed very much opposite. The title is Forlorn Hope (Already pretty dark stuff for the title lol) It'll involve Jaune going through school while going through some pretty heavy heavy heavy stuff. It'll feature Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren, Nora, Raven, Qrow, Taiyang, Summer, Weiss, Blake, and a few others. So keep your eyes out for that in a couple of days. Hopefully you'll enjoy it, because I am super excited for it!**


	25. Beacon 6: Crossroad

**Chapter 25: Crossroad**

 ***Downtown Vale***

Blue eyes widened at the man before him."You're telling me this will do the job?" The vile glowed in a sickly black, green hue.

The man in a trenchcoat nodded. His face being distorted from the fedora he wore. "It will. Do you have the lien?"

The boy sighed. "How much?"

"One thousand."

"For that pathetic vile?" The boy gritted his teeth.

"That's the price kid, take it or leave it." The man chuckled

"Fine." The boy pulled out his wallet giving the lien

"Pleasure doing business."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Another day finished. Jaune slumped out of the classroom, stretching his arms out letting out a mighty yawn.

"You enjoy your nap?" Yang gave a light punch on the shoulder.

"I was not napping." he crossed his arms, giving Yang the cold shoulder, only to come to face with Ruby.

The little reaper snorted. "Psht. You were snoring. Heck BRWN could hear you." She laughed.

"I was just resting my eyes." Jaune turned away from the reaper ignoring snickers from his two teammates.

"You were asleep." Pyrrha stated as a matter of fact. Jaune turned to face Pyrrha.

"You too?" his shoulders slumped "This is going to be the longest four years of my life." He muttered to himself as he opened the door to the room with the rest of his team filling filing in. He plopped on his bed as if it were a trampoline as the rest of girls, mainly just Ruby and Yang squabble over the bathroom.

Today had been exceptionally harsh. Three tests in one day was incomprehensibly tiring. Except he had a test in history tomorrow, and he fell asleep in class. Yeah, he shot himself in the foot with that one. He couldn't help it, though. In his defense, history was just so dull, it also didn't help that he couldn't follow Dr. Oobleck. He pulled out his notes and textbook. Well, time for him to go over the past week's lessons and notes. Oh, wait… no notes.

By then everyone else was done getting all cleaned up. Yang went over to the fridge kept in the small kitchenette. She opened it for a moment and slammed it shut. "We need to get food. Anyone down for a trip to Vale?"

Ruby eyed her sister suspiciously. "Can we stop by the bakery."

"Yes." Yang rolled her eyes with a playful smirk. "How could I ever forget? And before you ask, we'll stop by the weapon shop too."

"You're the best!" she blurted out as she darted around the room to grab her bag and crescent rose. Yang smiled as she watched her little sister, but she slowly shifted her attention to her other two teammates. "You guys comin?"

Jaune looked up from his book. "I would but….. I fell asleep." He held up his book in extra emphasis.

The blonde looked at the taller redhead expectantly. "I should help him." She offered. Jaune peered over his book. "Go on and have fun. I don't want to hold you back."

She looked unsure. "Come on, it'll be a girl's night out," Yang added with a playful smile.

"Come on Pyrrha it'll be fine." Her sister added.

"I'm not going to win this am I?"

"NOPE!" Everyone shouted.

"Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt…" She grabbed a normal change of clothes. When she reemerged she came out with a simple red blouse and a modest white skirt.

"You look good." Yang eyed her playfully.

She nodded bashfully as Yang opened the door. "We'll see ya later!" She waved cheerfully

"Try not to fall asleep again!" Ruby grabbed Pyrrha's hand dragging her out of the room with an 'ompf' Jaune couldn't help but smile. Now that he had some peace and quiet, he could get down to work for the evening.

The three girls emerged from the bakery. Yang munching on a rather large pretzel as Pyrrha munched on a gourmet doughnut. From the corner of Pyrrha's eye, she watched as the little Rose opened her second box of cookies. She had to admire the little girl's ability to consume cookies constantly. 'So that's where she gets her energy from,' She thought to herself. The three girls sat on a bench, happily eating their treats until there was gasp.

"THEY HAD PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE FUDGE COOKIES!" She exclaimed "Watch my stuff! I'll be right back!" She darted back in with Yang and Pyrrha laughing at her antics. She popped her head from the door. "Don't touch my cookies" She smiled morphed into a mischievous grin. "Or else."

"She sure does loves cookies," Pyrrha noted absentmindedly.

Yang nodded in agreement with a smile. "Probably because her Mom used to bake them for us all the time." She said looking at the people walking down the street. "I think she eats them as a reminder of her." A tone of sadness cracked through her voice.

Pyrrha nodded solemnly. It must have been a sore spot. From what she could gather, their mom, at least Ruby's mom had left or wasn't with them. "What happened?" She asked sympathetically. "If you don't mind me asking." She added.

Yang sighed, remembering was a painful thing. "There was an attack at the local school by a group of men. Dad and Summer, being the local hunters, went to stop the attack…." She exhaled a long breath. "Summer gave her life rescuing everyone, she was the only one to die." She gave gave a small depricating laugh, "The only reason we weren't there was because we both had the flu..."

Pyrrha looked over to Yang, eyes filled with concern, but also admiration. "I'm so sorry Yang. I didn't mean to bring-"

"It's fine. I've come to terms with it. I think Ruby has to; she just tries to remember her the best she can. To live the life that Summer would want for her. That's all we can do." Yang took a bite out of her pretzel. As much time as Pyrrha knew Yang, she was a happy go getter, nothing got her down. Sure she got angry, but it quickly faded. To see her speak with such conviction, such seriousness, Pyrrha could tell Yang did have a serious side. "It wasn't easy for her, for us. There were times where she didn't go to school; she couldn't get out of bed. I stayed home those days to look after her." Pyrrha nodded understandingly. "But we managed ya know." She noted how the blonde smiled sincerely. "It's good to see her like this now."

"HEY!" The older redhead and blonde looked over at the bakery to see a Ruby caring four boxes of cookies. "Did anyone take any of my cookies?!" She had the most adorable yet oddly terrifying look in her eyes. Both of her teammates shook their heads.

The smile returned to its usual smile. "Good!" She walked over happily humming to herself as she plopped herself between Pyrrha and Yang. She handed them each a box. "Here you go."

"Awww Rubes, you didn't have too…." Yang wrapped an arm around her sister, hugging her.

She snorted with a wide grin. "Psht, you two don't know what's good for you."

Pyrrha graciously accepted the box. "Thank you, Ruby."

The Rose hummed as she opened her own box and took a bite out of a massive cookie. Pyrrha watched as her older sister did the same. Well, might as well join them. She thought as she opened her own box. She looked at the massive cookies. "Impressive." She muttered to herself.

"Don't worry, Jaune has his own box too. I can't forget about our clown leader."

Pyrrha smiled appreciatively. She took a bite. Yep. The best thing she had ever had tried. Ruby was indeed a connoisseur of sweets, but mainly cookies.

"Weapon shop now?" Ruby suggested eagerly.

"Only if we get to see the new Spruce Willis movie" Yang suggested.

"Can we get some food afterwards?" Pyrrha shyful suggested.

"HECK YEAH." The two sisters chimed in joyfully.

* * *

Jaune slammed his textbook shut. He was free. FINALLY! He straightened up, cracking his back, the most wonderful sensation a person can experience after spending four hours hunched over textbooks. He looked at his scroll. Three hours of mind numbing boredom and historical facts.

He stood up feeling his legs stiffen up, and felt he should probably get some training to loosen up. These long days of studying were starting to make him feel like an old man.

He grabbed his armor quickly fastening the straps and strapped Crocea Mors around his waist.

As he made his way to the arena, he noted how the campus was rather empty. No signs of life, rather creepy. The sidewalks were empty, the hallways were empty, and as he made his way to the arena, it too was empty.

He made his way to a console, programming some training bots. Easy, nah too easy. Medium. Nope.

"Arc." An arrogant voice called out. Jaune knew who it was. He turned to see the armored behemoth known as Cardin with his team behind him. "Hey, buddy! I just happen to be in the area, and well I found you! Here! Of all places you coward."

Jaune eyes them suspiciously, hand hovering over the hilt of his sword. "What do you want Cardin?"

"Just a friendly rematch." He gave a sadistic grin. "You know you shouldn't even be here. Ozpin made a mistake letting you in here. I'm here to fix that mistake." He extended his mace out, glowing in strange shimmering black and white pulses.

"Cardin. This isn't sanctioned." Jaune took a step back.

The aggressor nodded for his team to move forward encircling the blonde knight.

Jaune quickly armed himself with sword and shield. If he beat Cardin before, he could do it again.

Cardin let out a wild war cry as he charged with his mace over his head. Jaune dodged out of the way only to be met with Sky lark's halberd to the side, the damage insignificant but still there, Jaune grunted as recovered, however Cardin was already on top of him. Jaune quickly raised his shield to deflect the mace.

The adrenaline already pumping through Jaune's veins slowing down time ever so slightly until eventually, contact.

Jaune's eyes widened as a searing pain threatened to make him lose his composure. Something was terribly wrong. Aside from the pain, he couldn't feel anything in his arm.

Jaune attempted to shrug it off as he scrambled to his feet, using his arms to push himself up, except his shield arm gave out as Jaune yelped in pain.

Somehow Cardin managed to bypass his aura. Worst yet, his aura wasn't healing his arm.

"What's wrong Jauney boy?" A haughty and arrogant Cardin called out quietly. "Where's your team? Where's that redheaded bitch?" Cardin mocked.

Something in Jaune's mind triggered, he unlatched his shield and it fell to the ground with a clang. If Cardin hits me, I'm dead. Jaune thought to himself as he scrambled to his feet, Crocea Mors in his hand.

He could try and run. But No one. NO ONE calls Pyrrha a bitch in front of him. Cardin is going to pay. Pay very severely.

Cardin strode confidently to Jaune. The mace came down as Jaune back stepped. He grimaced in pain from his broken arm, but forced himself to keep moving. Another swing to his side had him ducking out of the way, his arm still protesting in pain.

Another downward swing with Cardin's foot exposed. Jaune took the initiative getting into Cardin's guard. He slammed his sword downward at Cardin's knee, which caused the bully to yelp. Cardin's arm shot forward toward Jaune's chest, and Jaune couldn't bring himself to move fast enough to dodge. A fist crashed full force into Jaune's chestplate, causing him to land on the ground on his bad arm. His mind almost went blank from the sheer pain. He saw Cardin walk over hand on mace. 'Shit shit shit'. He towered over Jaune.

"Night Jauney boy." Cardin brought down the mace on Jaune's chest plate. The last thing he remembered feeling was intense heat then nothing.

* * *

Pyrrha wouldn't lie, she did have a lot of fun today, although she felt a little guilty that Jaune wasn't able to join them. She walked into a dark room. Jaune must have been asleep. She brought a finger to her lips, the universal quiet symbol. Yang and Ruby nodded. As she crept over to her bed, she noticed something.

His bed was empty. She pulled out her scroll. Two in the morning. Where the heck is he? She went over to the lights and flicked on the switch. "Where's Jaune?" Ruby asked.

"Maybe he fell asleep at the library." Yang shrugged.

"Possibly." Pyrrha muttered as she brought a finger to her mouth in thought. However, something felt off. Terribly off. A feeling of dread settled in her stomach. She felt a vibration in her hand which made her focus on the scroll in her hand. It was Jaune.

She tapped the accept button and brought the scroll up to her ear. "Jaune? Where are you?"

"This is Pyrrha right?" A somewhat familiar voice responded. That sinking feeling only got worse.

"Who is this?" She asked as her free hand trembled.

"This is Blake. I found Jaune in the practice arena really banged up. I was able to get him to the medical ward-" Pyrrha's scroll dropped out of her hand as she stormed out of the room leaving a very confused Yang and Ruby.

Ruby went to pick up the scroll as they attempted to catch up with the taller redhead. "Hello?" Ruby called out questioningly.

"Ruby, this is Blake."

"Blake! What's going on?"

"Jaune's been seriously injured. I just happened to find him in the arena covered in blood."

Ruby eyes went wide as she continued to chase after the redhead who was blazing a trail. "Rubes, what is it?" Yang asked concerned as she kept up with the reaper. Her silver eyes, still in shock, met with lilac.

"Jaune's been hurt. Bad." She put the scroll up to her ear. "Is he alright? Where is he? Where are you?"

"I don't know. We're both in the medical ward." Ruby could tell that Blake was being strained.

"We'll be there soon. Thank you, Blake." She ended the scroll call, as she grabbed Yang by the arm. "Come on we have to catch up to Pyrrha." Ruby blasted off trying to catch the rather impressively fast taller redhead.

* * *

Pyrrha slammed open the door as her heavy footsteps echoed through hallway. This was her fault. She shouldn't have gone out today. Hell, if she were here, Jaune would be safe l, and Ruby and Yang would be okay.

But no, she had to spoil herself, be selfish, look at what she got in return. "Pyrrha." The amber-eyed, raven haired girl stepped forward.

"Where is he?" Was the only thing she could say. The only thing on her mind.

"In the ward, the doctor's aren't done operating on him." Blake stood in between her and her destination.

Pyrrha brushed her aside. "I'm going in." She grunted. She was about to touch the door when she felt something onto her hand. She looked to find a black lash wrapped around her arm. Pyrrha turned around turned around eyes wide with rage.

"I can't let you do that. We're just going to wait here, alright?" Blake strained at keeping the taller girl from overpowering her.

"Blake, I'm only warning you once, I don't want to hurt you, but you aren't going to stop me," Pyrrha growled darkly. The doors slammed open revealing a flash of red and rose petals. The two sisters eyed the scene suspiciously. Yang extended her gauntlets. "What's goin on here?"

"Pyrrha is trying to barge into the operating room" Blake grunted trying to subdue the taller redhead. Ruby rushed over in between the two as Yang rushed over to grabbing Pyrrha.

"Listen P. We know that Jaune means a lot to you." She gritted her teeth as the redhead squirmed and struggled out of the hold. "But… rushing in like this is only going to make things worse. We just need to-.

"

"PYRRHA!" Everyone froze looking at the little reaper whose little silver eyes shone fire. "Do you think Jaune would want you to see you like this? Because I know he wouldn't." Her voice filled with a belittling tone.

The taller redhead blinked. She stopped struggling as she could feel Yang loosen her grip. "I'm sorry." She muttered. Ruby was right. Jaune would be so incredibly disappointed with her, and that made her sick. The fiery glare that the rose was giving quickly faded into a compassionate smile. Blake's lash slackened as she whipped it back to her.

"It's not your fault, but remember we're all here for both of you-" Ruby pulled out her scroll while she gave Pyrrha back her scroll. "We all got a message…. Asking us to fill out a report."

After finishing the report which took about an hour. Filling out basic information, relation to victim, what happened, where was the victim's location, where was her location, who was she with. All of these questions, which didn't help her mind set. With that all sent in, the nurse came in retrieving them.

"You guys go on ahead." Blake stood off to the side.

"Blake?" Ruby asked questioningly.

"Go ahead. You need to be there with your team. I'll stop by a little later." She gave a small smile as she turned around.

"Blake," Pyrrha called out. The amber eye girl turned around to face "I apologize… I didn't mean to-" Blake held up her hand with a small smile She didn't need to say anything, Pyrrha got the message. All was forgiven.

Pyrrha walked down the hallway escorted by her other two teammates. Pyrrha opened the door and froze. In the room was Ozpin, and for some strange reason, Raven, Qrow, and another adult, more muscular build who had lilac eyes and short blonde hair. Yang stepped forward.

"Mom, Dad, Uncle Qrow?" The confusion was clearly evident in her voice that matched her facial expression.

"What are you doing here?" Raven turned to face the rest of JYPR. Pyrrha could see the confusion and hurt in Yang's face.

Ruby spoke up on behalf of their team. "We're here to check on our team leader." Ruby said proudly. Pyrrha watched as Qrow leaned into his sister's ear.

"I'm impressed that Jaune was able to make team leader…" the words she muttered were a little louder than intended. Yang and Ruby blinked several times as the older blonde man looked at Raven crossing his arms.

"How do you know this boy." His tone filled with suspicion.

Raven looked at everyone around the room. Pyrrha could tell that this was the moment she was trying avoid. She let out a sigh as Ruby and Yang stared expectantly. "I trained him." She said, her voice filled with guilt as if she knew what was going to happen. At that, Pyrrha could see Yang switch from the kind hearted girl to the fiery dragon she could be, her eyes burning red.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Hey guys! I'm back! Things have settled down with class and due dates. What a week lol.**

 **So we have a new chapter with some stuff happening. How the heck did Cardin's mace break through aura? Idk. Why would Cardin just blatantly attack Jaune, is he that spiteful? Maybe idk, but I do and Pyrrha's on the guilt train now :(**

 **Then there is next chapter, some stuff is goin to get real for everyone. Yang is not going to be happy, Ruby is not going to be happy, Pyrrha is not happy, Tai not happy, and Raven is for sure not going to be happy….. I wonder why? Bah idk.**

 **Shaded: Sup people… this was an awesome chapter. I had fun helping Sauron with it.**

 **Sauron: Debatable**

 **So if you guys like the chapter, thought it was meh, or didn't like it, let us know. Ideas, opinions, suggestions, questions, criticisms, predictions, and all that other stuff is always welcomed! Let us know, we love to hear from all of you.**


	26. Beacon 7: Reclaiming What Was Once Lost

**Chapter 26: Reclaiming What Was Once Lost**

Yang was hurt, wounded, betrayed, but mostly pissed. Ozpin could easily tell by the trademark Branwen fiery eyes. Her once lovely lilac eyes shifting as red as her mother's. "I'll take my leave then." Ozpin headed out with Glynda following dutifully behind.

Yang was breathing heavily, she was seething angry as everyone looked at each other. Ruby shook her head, knowing what was about to happen. "Yang…" She tried to intervene

"What the hell?! Am I not good enough for you?!" She snapped, her fists shaking uncontrollably now. She'd never had the urge to hurt something so badly before. She wanted to grab something by its head and rip it off.

"Yang hold on…." Ruby urged cautiously. Yes, Ruby could understand that her sister was hurt. The least they could do is just hear Raven out, let her explain herself, if she even had a good excuse.

"No Ruby! This is complete bullshit!" She pointed at her mother. "She left me, us, for fucking strangers! Even after Summer, your mom, had died!" She pointed at the black and red clad older version of Yang, "You would think after her death, she would have at least made an attempt to come home! But no. She lied to us. The only reason she tried to make contact was with us was because she felt like a shitty person." The room fell into silence. "We weren't good enough for her! We were a fucking disappointment to her."

Tai narrowed his eyes at his first wife crossing his arms. "Yang maybe we should hear her out." His voice cold and distant, something that Tai was never known to do, he was always a warm and gentle teddy bear.

Raven felt as if everything was coming down. All the progress she had made being stripped in a minute. All of the hard work being ripped away violently. Each second of her daughter and husband glaring at her tearing old wounds open, each word a pinch of salt in the wound.

"NO! She didn't want us!" Raven froze, losing all color, her mind blank. Yang turned to her father, eyes wide with anger, seventeen years of rage, loneliness, confusion, lies, coming out. "She left our dad for strangers! She left her family! That's pretty fucking clear that she never wanted a family." She turned to face her mother. "Summer was a better mother then you could ever be. In fact, you aren't my mother! I want you out of my life!" She stormed off slamming her fist into the wall, shaking the room, and leaving a deep hole in the wall. Tai scowled at Raven shaking his head, as he ran after her daughter.

"I'll go after them." Qrow whispered. Ruby stood there; throat choked up seeing her older sister losing it. For all her rage and fury Yang did have a point. What made them so special? What made her family not worthy? Were Ruby and Yang not worthy?

Ruby took several steps , sliding down the wall. She landed with a light thud, knees up to her chest, she buried her head. "Aren't we good enough?" She muttered, trembling on the floor.

Pyrrha looked at Raven who was rigid as a statue. This was bad. Real bad. Their team could literally disintegrate after a week of being formed. Without their team leader to patch things, it wasn't looking good. It just dawned on Pyrrha why Raven wanted to keep her business with her family separate from her real family.

She moved over to Raven nudging the older huntress. She slowly shifted her head to look down at Pyrrha, no emotion in her expression at all, Pyrrha could see the fight in her mind, trying to comprehend. Pyrrha looked over at Ruby. As the older huntress moved over to Ruby, Pyrrha made her way over to Jaune.

Raven was a blank slate. She felt compelled by some force she couldn't describe to make her way over to the young Rose. She joined her, sliding down and coming to a stop right beside Ruby. "Why aren't we good enough?" The young Rose repeated from her buried head. Something switched in Raven; something was triggered.

"You know, when your mom and I were Beacon, we used to hate each other." Raven said sullenly, bringing her own knees up to her chest, resting her hands on them. Ruby just shuddered and recoiled at the comment. Okay, maybe a bad start. "I won't lie, I was a real hard ass on her, but we quickly became friends. Heck, even best friends." Ruby's eye peeked over from her arms seeing Raven stare off into the distance in fond remembrance. "Through thick and thin, we never left each other's side. Your mother was truly an amazing person." She paused for a moment.

The older huntress chuckled to herself "I remember as if it were yesterday… we were out in the courtyard. We were talking about…" She gave a small smile. "Girly things. I remember explicitly telling her if I was going to have kids, I wanted her to be their godparent. Low and behold, I had your sister." Her smile grew larger, her somber tone shifted ever so slightly. It became lighter and happier, something that Ruby had noticed. "It was the happiest day of my life. I remember how your father and Summer couldn't contain themselves. It was to the point where they almost got thrown out of the room by the nurse. Your uncle had to settle them down. Qrow of all people." Raven chuckled which made the little Rose give a slight giggle.

Ruby heard some stories of her mother after she was gone. However, her dad kept quiet about the past due to the loss of Summer. Summer didn't talk much about the past either for Yang's sake, they didn't want to reveal too much about her own mother. This led to the two sisters deprived of their parents' past. Now she was learning more about Yang's mom and her own, something she couldn't resist.

"She said that she would be the best godparent ever. That night, when I had Yang. I was…. Out of it, to put it mildly, having been poked and prodded by a bunch of strangers for sixteen hours can wear you thin…" Raven chuckled to herself. "After everything was said and done, I was holding your sister in my arms. She didn't cry, she didn't whine. She was the perfect picture of a happy baby with two lilac eyes staring right at me. Probably one of the only times I ever had a goofy smile besides marrying your father… Your mother came in asked me something while she held your sister." She looked to Ruby with a sincere smile. "Do you know what?"

Ruby shook her head. "She asked if I would be the godmother to her children. You know what I said?" Ruby shook her, waiting for a response. "I said yes. Didn't even need to think about it." Ruby smiled, she could tell that there was more to Raven the met the eyes. Maybe Yang was wrong,

However, something nagged at her in the back of her mind: why wasn't she there after Summer died? Why did she leave dad to begin with? "What happened?" She asked in a hushed tone. "Why did everything fall apart?"

Raven turned to look back out in the room. "I was on a mission, when I came across some dangerous people. These people had been hunting your uncle and me ever since we were children. We thought we dealt with them at Beacon, but there were some survivors, and they were actively looking for me." Raven stopped, brow knitted up in pain, anger, and sadness as she clenched her hands in bitterness. "That was when I knew I had to leave. I had to get away from all of you to protect your dad, your mom, your sister, your uncle. "

It dawned Ruby. She didn't leave because she hated her family. She left because she loved them. "I was going to hunt all of them down then come back home and live with my family, Funny how that goes huh? Never goes as plan."

"Why didn't you stay in touch?"

Raven sighed sadly. "I knew if I kept in touch or told anyone, it'd mark them as targets. I didn't want to risk your father's, your mom's, or Yang's life. At that point, I realized I could never forgive myself for leaving, and I thought your father would be the same way. When I found out that Tai and Summer had gotten together, I was happy, truly, I was. I wanted your father to be happy. When Qrow leaked the news that you were being born, I was happy for all of them…" She trailed off looking away.

"It must have hurt though." Ruby realized looking at the older huntsmen sympathetically.

"It did… but... I couldn't be angry, I couldn't forgive myself, though. I… I…"

Ruby could see Yang's mom's eyes well up. "I'm sure they would have welcomed you back in."

Raven wiped them away quickly, clearing her throat, "Maybe, but I couldn't. I was in a bad spot Ruby. I did some terrible things that I didn't want anyone to know about, just to stop these people. Besides your father and Summer were already happy. I didn't want to interfere with that. You all deserved better."

"Did you?"

"These people…. Were very good at covering their tracks… it took me seventeen years to locate the last group of them." Raven looked over to Jaune and Pyrrha. "They were in their hometown, where they took hostages, including Jaune and Pyrrha. Your Uncle and I met up with their parents who happen to be our sister team to break them out and kill the bastards…" She frowned. "It didn't work. I was too late. Jaune's father almost died, and I was responsible for it."

Ruby nodded slowly, but she didn't agree with one thing. "I don't see how it was your fault... it was beyond your control."

"I was late, if I had found out earlier, if I managed to get to the school faster, if I could have interrogated more people…. There were so many things that could have changed everything." Raven said through gritted teeth, balling her her hands up as her anger rose. "Instead I got too lazy and it almost cost them all of their lives. It almost cost them a father. On my watch. I already failed Pyrrha, I wasn't going to let Jaune down."

Ruby straightened up. "What about Pyrrha?"

Raven shook her head, realizing she revealed too much. "I'm sorry, that isn't my place to say."

Ruby cataloged that for later, however, it wasn't her place to push Raven. It would be up to Pyrrha to reveal that information if she chose to do so. "So then what?"

"Well then I found out, I hadn't even come close to stopping the Legion. Ruby, the same people who attacked their school were the same people who took your mom from you." Ruby froze. The same people who almost killed the Arcs were the same people who almost took away her family. Indeed, they took away her mother.

Her mother was taken away by the people Raven was hunting for seventeen years. The same people who tried to kill her off. The same people who tried to attacked their home. Who the hell were these monsters and what did they want with her family, the Arcs, and Pyrrha?

"I let you down Ruby. I let your father down, your mother, your sister. I let all of them down. If I could have stopped them. If I had known, I could have warned Summer and Taiyang. I could have done so much more. Instead, Summer died because of me. I can never make it up to any of you…" She choked up towards the end, hanging her head in unbearable shame. The failure was crashing down on top of her threatening to drown her. "I can't make it up to her…."

Ruby sat there, letting it all sink in. All this time, Yang's mom was out trying to protect her family. Trying to help people, trying everything in her power to keep them safe. All at the cost of her own happiness. It dawned on her, she made one of the heaviest sacrifices that she ever could. She sacrificed her own life for that of her family. Her mom would be proud of her. She couldn't understand why Raven blamed herself. Why she constantly berated herself. Ruby knew she should be mad, but she never could hold something over anyone. Maybe Raven messed up, maybe she didn't, It wasn't Ruby's place to judge her. No, what mattered to her was that she was actively trying to fix her mistakes.

"She would be proud." The younger Rose looked at the older huntress reassuringly. "You gave everything for those you loved. She could respect that." Ruby gave a small smile that matched the sincerity spilling forth from her heart.

It was something that Raven couldn't accept. "I let you down. I let Yang down."

"Nope, you did the best you could in a bad spot. No one can fault you on that."

"Yeah…." Raven noted bitterly.

Deciding to hit the main topic, and to get her aunt off the already sore subject, she kept it going. "So how did you end up with the Arcs?"

The older version of Yang looked at the blonde and older redhead "Well, their family was all tied up with the assassination and I decided to watch over them for the time being to help make up for my… shortcoming. Well, I offered to teach them how to defend themselves, and one thing led to another, and I was training them for Beacon."

"Oh…." Ruby muttered sadly. She was really tied up with them. Ruby understood something, though. Raven was fiercely loyal to her friends and family. She would sacrifice everything for them.

"I wasn't always with them." The older huntress looked at the little Rose. "In fact, I watched over you the night you lost your mother. I always kept my eye on the both of you; I was always there at each of your birthdays, I was there for Yang's induction in Signal. Heck, I was there when you were born. In fact, I'm pretty sure your mother knew I was watching. She always smiled and waved at me, that or she likes big ugly ravens."

Ruby perked up. "Really…?" The huntress nodded.

"I was. Ever notice a…. black birdy that you crashed into during initiation."

Ruby's eyes went wide with alarm, she remembered crashing into a large black bird using her semblance. "Oh my gosh! That was you!? I'm so sorry! I didn't know."

Raven chuckled. "I should have watched where I was going. It's true what they say, like mother like daughter."

Ruby finally realized what Yang's mom was missing. She was missing a family, her family. She missed her daughter just as Ruby missed her mother. Ruby slid over, snuggling into Raven's side which caused the huntress to straighten up immediately, letting out a slightly surprised gasp. She definitely did not expect that however, she soon relaxed and placed an arm around her niece. She pulled her in closer. "It's good to have you back Raven. Please don't leave."

Raven gave a reassuring squeeze "I'm done running. I want to be with my family." She said with a small smile. Maybe through Ruby, she can forgive herself.

* * *

Yang was pissed off. Even if what Qrow told her about her mother was true. Qrow and Taiyang sat out in the courtyard silently. Qrow had told them everything. Why Raven left, why she had taken up with the Arcs. Yeah, she guessed it was for a good cause, but she could have done more. Done more to show she actually cared about Yang, about her real family that she abandoned. She felt her dad's arm around her, but it didn't soothe the fiery dragon. If anything it only made her angrier.

What was worse was that Qrow knew. He knew for a long time and didn't mention it to anyone. "I still hate her." She said bitterly. "She's a selfish bitch coming back here. She can't deal with her own conscience. That's her own damn fault."

"Honey, it isn't like that…." Her father insisted giving her a reassuring squeeze, he tried to justify her mother's actions, but it was getting increasingly difficult.

Her crimson eyes flared as she instantly broke away from her father, glaring at him. "How can you even say that? She left us. It's pretty clear she spent more time with them than us. We got what? Two visits? That really makes up things…." She spat out angrily.

"Yang shut up and get over it." Yang eyes grew larger glaring at her uncle. " You're being a brat." Qrow shook his head disapprovingly at his niece from the tree.

"WHAT?!" Yang roared in a fury. "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT WAS LIKE WITHOUT A MOTHER!"

Qrow snorted. "I do, more than what you could ever imagine. My parents were killed right before me and Raven. So don't lecture me about what it was like. At least your mother is making an effort now. My parents beat us as children." Yang shrank as Qrow's eyes pierced into her, the harshness in his voice making her sober up a little bit. "At least your mother loves you."

"Bu-" Yang started but was abruptly cut off.

"Yeah, she messed up. Ain't no denying that. However, she does love you. Both of you." He shifted his attention to Tai. "She gave up her life to make sure that you all grew up in safety. She took care of the Arcs because their father was almost killed on her watch. It wasn't her fault, but she felt like she had to make up for it. You don't have to like her, but make sure you understand that she would do anything to protect those she loves.

"She didn't-"

"Yang shut the hell up." Yang recoiled while Tai glared at him. "It wasn't like she focused all her time on them. She watched over them just as much as she watched over you. She was there when Ruby was born." Tai's eyes went wide surprise, how? Why? "She was there for all of your birthdays. She watched over you while you slept. Do you realize that she barely slept when she was watching over everyone? She was on the verge of collapse yet she kept on going, she pushed through for you. So before you jump to conclusions, make sure you get all the facts."

Yang sat there feeling her father bring her closer into a hug, those crimson eyes still staring at Qrow. Qrow stood up. Without saying a word he left. "Why does everything have to be so confusing…" Yang muttered.

"I don't know honey, but we'll figure it out." Tai ran his fingers soothing through Yang's hair.

* * *

Qrow made his way back to the room to see Pyrrha sitting beside an unconscious Jaune. Where did the other two go? He looked around the room and found nothing. "Uncle Qrow!" He raised an eyebrow looking at the wall. There was Ruby with something odd…. Raven's arm around the girl. Raven had a small smile contentment on her face. Even if Yang snapped at her, it seemed things between his niece and his sister were on better terms.

Qrow slid down beside Ruby "Aren't we looking pretty dandy?"

"Yep!" Ruby smiled happily, but it was gradually worn away by a more pressing concern "How's Yang…?" She asked for not only her sake but for her aunt.

"She'll come around. You know how she is, quick to anger, quick to forgive."

"I didn't mean for all of this to happen…" Ruby's aunt shook her head.

"It did though, but it's probably for the better. It's better to get all of it out now." Ruby said as she hugged Raven, she was just like her mother. For some reason, Raven still felt guilty but more reassured now. However, something still nagged at her.

"You still didn't explain why you are here to begin with." Ruby eyed Raven and Qrow suspiciously "There's no way you knew that Jaune was injured."

Qrow and Raven looked at each other. Qrow nodded, Your show sis. "Well Ruby, we're all going to be teachers at Beacon." She decided on telling her why exactly, best not to overwhelm the little Rose with too much information.

Ruby had the widest grin. "REALLY?!" Pyrrha's attention shifted to the adults in the room. She too was rather excited by these turn of events.

Raven nodded. "Indeed, however, I do have a small request… If I may?"

"Sure." Ruby agreed, Pyrrha nodded.

"Please don't expect to get free A's just because you're all family." Ruby smiled, three words stuck out. 'You're all family.' If Raven considered the Arcs to be family, then so would Ruby. Both redheads nodded. Raven smiled as she stood up.

"I should go check up on them." She looked at Pyrrha. "If something changes, please let me know." Pyrrha nodded.

"Rae, are you sure that's a smart idea?" Her brother asked looking at his sister with a concerned expression.

Raven nodded stoically. "Better to get it done now then wait for things to get worse."

* * *

Tai was lost. He couldn't think of a way to cheer up Yang. She was hit with two big bombs today. He was surprised that she was holding up so well. It didn't help that Qrow went off on his daughter like that. Uncle or not, that was certainly not called for. The two sat on the grass quietly. Yang leaning up against the wall, arms crossed, glaring at the ground with her father beside her, legs stretched as he picked the grass. The two sat in silence, unable to express their thoughts through words.

Sure he was pissed at Raven. Yeah, she left her family. Hell, she even took another family essentially, but for a good reason. The Arcs were a good people, he considered them great friends while he was in Beacon. However, the one thing that pissed Taiyang off to no end was the fact that even Raven promised to be upfront, she failed to do so. A promise made yet broken so early on boded ill for trying to establish trust. Just like all of her other promises. "Honey, I know you're mad. Trust me, so am I, but maybe Qrow was right."

"Even if she was watching over us for so long, she could have at least shown herself, instead of making me feel like a worthless piece of shit." She spat out angrily as she ripped blades of grass up.

"You're right. I messed up bad." Tai and Yang looked over to see black and red clad huntress. "I could have done so much more at the time, and I didn't." Yang snorted as Tai looked away scowling. "May I sit here?"

Yang rolled her eyes. "You sure you wanna sit here? Don't you wanna look over your real family?" Her voice was just dripping with sarcasm. Tai shook his head. "Yang." He said sharply. He got that she was pissed at her mom, but you still had to show some degree of respect, even though she didn't deserve it.

Raven sat down giving herself space from Yang. "No, I want to be with my family." Her voice hinted with some hope.

"A little late for that huh?" Yang shot back glaring at her mother in name only.

"It is." Her mother nodded in agreement. Tai raised an eyebrow. Did she just agree? She didn't even try to defend herself. The three of them sat in silence for a few moments.

A couple of minutes passed by. Something that Yang just couldn't stand, her anger overriding her ability to remain silent

"Ugh… What do you want?"

"Nothing. I just want to enjoy nature." Raven muttered looking up at a tree that had several birds chirping in a nest.

"If you're here expecting me to forgive you, you might as well forget about it." Yang growled.

"I don't. If I can't forgive myself, how can I expect others to forgive me?" Yang's brow unknotted slightly.

"Yeah….. Remnant's best mom… huh?" She chided as she ripped more grass from the soil.

"Summer was a lot better than me, I knew she would be a better mother than myself, she was the mother you deserved. I tried Yang, and I failed." Raven plucked a small rose from a bush nearby examining the petals and thorns. "I tried to make the world a safer place and I failed."

"You ditched our family for some other random family."

"I did." Raven nodded, still holding the rose in her hand. She slipped off her armored gauntlets as she ran her fingers through the grass. "I love the Arcs; they treated me fairly. They made me feel like a human being again. They helped me see what I was doing was so incredibly wrong. That is something I can never repay them for. So yes, I do love them." Yang hmphed in response shifting more towards her mother.

Raven took the rose in her hand squeezed the stem, the thorns slicing into her hand. She could feel the life essence seep from her hand. "But you're forgetting something." She opened her hand, extending it out for Tai and Yang to see. "You're of my blood. Both of you. Yang, you will always be my daughter, nothing will ever change that. I will always love you more than anything in this world. I would literally set fire to the world if it made you happy. Tai, you were... are my love, and you will always be my love. You may not see it, but I gave a lot for both of you. I sacrificed everything to protect you two. If you hate me for it, so be it, but I will always. ALWAYS love you." She said resolutely looking at the two of them, balling her bleeding hand into a fist and squeezing, blood droplets hitting the ground.

Yang eyes slowly shifted her crimson eyes to her mother. "It's a little late to say that."

Raven was hurting. Bad. Her daughter meant the world to her and here she was actively hostile to her for very good reasons, and Raven was solely responsible for it, all she wanted to do was ease Yang's pain. "It is, but it doesn't change the fact. Tell me Yang, what would make you happy right now?"

"You. Leaving. Now." She instantly shot back bitterly.

Without looking at her daughter, she nodded. "Really? Is that what you want? If I was gone forever?"

"Yes." The finality in Yang's voice was all Raven needed. Raven stood up on two shaky legs, hiding her tears forming in her eyes.

"Alright…." She struggled to keep her voice even. "Just remember, I love you Yang." Yang looked at her mother, whose back was turned. She could hear heartache in those words, the sincerity in them.

Raven was utterly defeated. She lost her own blood. She was officially disowned by her own daughter. If one thing she could do right was to respect her wishes, so be it. Each footstep felt like a mile. A thousand pounds were crashing down on her. Unaware she was going, she just kept going.

There was no destination, no point, what was there for her? She was entrenched her own thoughts when she felt two arms wrapped around her waist. She froze, unsure what was happening. Her vision already blurry, her mind in a haze. "Please…. Mom…. don't leave." The older huntress breath hitched, her heart almost stopped. She slowly turned around. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She looked down to see a mane of blonde hair burrowed into her. She could feel her daughter trembling, she could hear her sob. In a moment, her maternal instincts kicked in Raven dropped to her knees, wrapping her arms and pulling her daughter into the tightest hug she manages as if she was the only thing that kept her afloat.

"I won't. I promise. I'm here to stay. I'm here to be the mother you deserve." Tears running down her own cheek. Mother and daughter were united after seventeen years of separation. All of the anger, sadness, loneliness all out, the two embraced each other letting out all of their emotions.

* * *

Pyrrha's scroll rang as did Qrow's. They both looked at their scrolls simultaneously. Pyrrha saw a message from Ozpin asking for her team.

Qrow looked at his own scroll to see that his team had also been summoned.

"Ozpin?" Qrow asked looking at the redhead. She nodded silently. Ruby at the time was sitting beside Qrow, fidgeting with a new game on her scroll. "Ugh fine." She closed out of the game. Qrow and Ruby walked out, Pyrrha lingered by looking over Jaune in the bed. First Crystal, now him. Whoever did this was going to pay. Pay severely she swore to herself.

They went down the hallway, and out the hallway from the medical wing. Pyrrha was greeted with an unusual sight. An older blonde, whom she assumed was Yang's father smiling arm around Yang. Yang was laughing, her eyes more lilac, than Raven beside her, laughing. Legitimately laughing. She guessed the whole matter between the two of them was fixed. "Sup guys!" Yang waved them over.

"Uhhh…. Everything alright guys?" Qrow narrowed his eyes at three, not believing his eyes. The three looked at each other. Raven flashed a smile, nodding. "Very much so." Pyrrha heart was touched see the family reunited. However, something dark overtook her. Their family was reunited, but why couldn't her's or Jaunes. What made them so special. It made her feel something she didn't know how to describe. It scared her to be honest.

She quickly buried these new emotions down. She should be rejoicing in her friends' reunion. She should be rejoicing in her mentors, basically stepmother besides Mrs. Arc, happiness. "Well, not to cut things short, but Ozpin wants to see all of us."

The older blonde looked over. "Bout what?"

"Not sure, but he wants to see us, and them." He gestured over to Ruby, and Pyrrha. Raven stood up as did her daughter and husband.

"Well, I guess we shouldn't keep him waiting then." Yang's father looked over to Pyrrha, extending his hand. "By the way, I'm Taiyang, Yang and Ruby's dad." Pyrrha gave a humble smile.

"Pyrrha Nikos." She shook his hand. "Pleasure to meet you Mr. Xiao-Long."

"Call me Tai outside of class, but in class that's fine."

Yang looked quizzically at her father. "What do you mean in class?" Tai looked at Raven and Qrow who just shrugged in unison as if to say 'not our problem.'

"Well…. We're going to be teachers at Beacon…."

"No way…. You've got to be joking." Yang looked at Raven, Qrow, and Tai.

"Sorry, we aren't." Qrow scratched the back of his head.

"COOL!" Ruby latched on Qrow's arm. Yang just smiled at her sister's antics. For once she felt whole. She had everything she wanted. Her family was together once again.

* * *

The six of them arrived in the head master's office. "Please do come in."

The six of them filed in as instructed. "Let's get started, shall we? Mr. Branwen, you'll be teaching advanced survival strategies." Qrow looked rather pleased. He looked over Taiyang. "Mr. Xiao-Long, you'll be teaching advanced hand to hand combat." Tai shook his head with a lopsided grin. He then focused his attention to Raven. "Ms. Branwen, you will be teaching advanced tactics and strategies." Raven gave a curt nod.

Ozpin then looked over to (J)YPR. "I am terribly sorry to hear about Mr. Arc's condition. My condolences to all of you. However, we have discovered who was responsible for-"

"Who." Pyrrha said through gritted teeth, her hands balled into fists as she tried to hold back the anger swelling up in her.

"We aren't at liberty to say." Ozpin sipped from his mug. He noted at how the huntress in training gave a sharp inhale.

"Did you do something? Did you punish who was expelled." Pyrrha's tone grew rather ominous, more threatening.

Ozpin nodded slowly. "Indeed. However, I suggest you leave at that, Ms. Nikos. I know Jaune was dear to you, but don't let your emotions get the better of you." Raven looked at the corner of her eye. She could tell that her former apprentice was beyond irate.

"Yes… Sir."

"Rest assure they have been dealt with. I am told that he should up and about in a couple of days at best. You may have the rest of today and tomorrow off to let things settle. You're dismissed." Ruby and Yang filed out. "Come on Pyrrha." Yang waved her over. "We'll keep you busy." Pyrrha reluctantly followed. As soon as the elevator doors closed. Ozpin looked at the three of them.

"Now as you know, besides teaching, there is a reason why you've been asked here." He gestured to Raven. "Due to Ms. Branwen's attempts to keep Vale and Remnant safe, she has asked for our help in protecting her family, an easy enough request. We will make sure that Beacon's defenses are well prepared if they are to be tested. Rest assured that your family is safe here." Raven nodded in thanks.

"However, we must be prepared if something were to happen. I am afraid that there are two developments that bode ill for us." He tapped his scroll and linked it to the table. It showed footage of the boy in the hospital bed fighting another boy who was armed with a rather large mace. "Watch carefully."

The boy kept moving and dodging the swing. Gosh Raven taught him well, Tai thought to himself. Except he blocked the mace with his shield. Something was wrong. It dented the shield terribly, Aura should have protected him from that. The boy unlatched his shield as his arm hung there, that's when Tai realized; it was broken. How was that possible? He should have had aura.

The blonde swordsmen charged slamming his sword in his opponent's exposed knee and received an arm bash from the taller mace wielding the mace. He crashed into the ground landing on his bad arm. "Come on Jaune….. Get up…" Raven whispered. He didn't. The taller boy stood over him slamming his mace down into the boy's chest, blood flowing. Raven brought her hand up to her mouth, covering the astonishment, the pain of seeing her protege's near death.

"He should have had aura." She spoke the thoughts of those who first watched the video.

"Indeed Ms. Branwen. However, Mr. Winchester's mace seemed to have passed right through it."

"How." Qrow blinked in surprise or horror.

"Ozpin tapped his scroll again revealing a holographic display of small vile of dust. "Due to this, Black Dust. It has the ability to pass through and negate the effects of Aura." The three stared at the headmaster disbelievingly. "The very same properties the Aura disruptors." Ozpin finished.

"How the heck did the boy get something like this?" Tai asked in disbelief.

"Through the black market apparently. This new dust has spread throughout the kingdoms. We have yet to determine the source."

"The Legion." Raven muttered out loud.

Ozpin nodded in agreement. "It is is a possibility. However, the source originates from Atlas. From what we thought, the Atlesian government managed to keep it under lock and key." Ozpin looked over the three of them. Raven and Qrow were the most affected, they stood rigid, faces devoid of emotion. "How this got out of their control, we have no idea. Huntsmen are currently looking into the matter, but there is little information. However, that isn't all..." Ozpin leaned back into his chair. "There is talk between the four kingdoms to create a unified military force to ensure security within the kingdoms as well as campaign against the Grimm. It is currently being discussed at the Vytal Summit as we speak."

"So what of it?" Tai asked not following.

"Ever since the attack on the Vytal Festival, the kingdoms have been at each other's throat, blaming each other's huntsmen. They believe a unified oversight organization can ease tensions between the kingdoms." Raven eye's widened. The position of hunters was growing precariously dangerous. "It is still being discussed, but I, as well as the other headmasters, will be there to ease the paranoia, hopefully, we can settle fears without a heavy-handed approach.

"Ozpin, if this organization is created… it could end the academies, playing right into the hands of the Legion." Raven realized. One of the greatest gifts of being a huntsmen, the freedom to act as they saw fit may be their own undoing.

"Precisely." The headmaster nodded. "I would like one of you to accompany me to help plead our case before the summit." Raven instantly stepped forward. "I'll do it sir."

"Woah woah woah." Qrow stepped forward placing a hand on his sister's shoulder. "No way. You've been through enough. What did I say? You're on break. Besides you'd only be drawing more attention to yourself. Do you want that?"

She glared at her younger brother. "Qrow…." She warned.

"No. Raven. You're done. Spend some time with your family. They miss you." He insisted. She let out a defeated sigh. "Fine."

"Then it's settled. Qrow will accompany me to the summit." Ozpin smiled from behind his mug.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Hi guys! New Shattered chapter… hopefully it was a thing…..**

 **Some things happened, I tried to hopefully get an emotional chapter. Hopefully I nailed it but Idk let us know what you thought.**

 **New dust somehow getting into the black market? A new oversight committee being planned? I'm not liking how that sounds...**

 **Does Shaded have mouth words? _Nope… I'm a quiet dude_**

 **Oh well okay then… So I'm going to respond to reviews from here just like Forlorn, it's easier for me unless it's a direct question or something. I do want to apologize about the hell week from school, it's over, so thank you for all of the support.**

 **Reviews!**

 **Yukas: Hi buddy! Hopefully you liked this chapter!**

 **Xander: Thanks for the support buddy! It's back though, never fear, hope you like the chapter.**

 **Patleon: Welllp there is your confirmation… and Pyrrha ripping Cardin apart? Idk… he seems to not be around… I wonder where he went? Good gosh Pyrrha running into him…. Wouldn't that be a nightmare….. Hopefully you liked the chapter!**

 **Hirshja: I apologize for that, but it has been fixed.**

 **Overdude: Illuminati confirmed: Cardin is a jerk**

 **Goddy: Well it has to be the new type of dust… that seems to be pretty dangerous stuff.**

 **Guest 1: I don't care obviously you didn't read into it too well….. You got a problem how bout you pm me then I would be more then happy to discuss matters with you. And please learn how to spell Pyrrha before leaving a review…. I ain't saying but I'm saying.**

 **Guest 2: Actually no, read the scene again, you think he knew about the black dust, he went into the fight expecting it to be normal only to have his arm broken. He used his shield to block effectively, but without aura, he couldn't do it again. How about you pm and we actually talk about it instead of leaving a guest review.**

 **Trusty McGoody: You got my PM, but I still appreciate the feedback!**

 **Hopefully you guys enjoyed the chapter, leave a follow, fav, review, pm if you liked the chapter. Got questions, reactions, opinions, criticisms, questions, theories, all that stuff. We love it all.**

 **Till next time!**

 **-Lordxsauron**


	27. Beacon 8: Bonding

**Chapter 27: Bonding**

 **Streets in Vale**

 ***Drip* *Drop* *Drip* *Drop***

He had been on the run for a couple of hours now. Beacon had put out a notice on him and now the police were after him. Huntsmen were after him. He knew he went overboard. The stupid kid didn't deserve that. Why didn't his team stop him? He could go overboard sometimes, but he didn't realize what he did until it was too late. The caved in chest piece, the blood oozing around out of it. There was no way he survived it.

He ran down an alley, hiding behind a dumpster as sirens whirled by. A searchlight beamed down the alley "Shit." He panted. "Shit. Shit. Shit." He didn't want to go to jail. FUCK. Why did he have to do that?! Fucking Jaune, it was all his fault. The lights shuddered in the alley. The light slowly scanned the alley before the vehicle left. Cardin let out a sigh of relief as he rested his head along the damp dumpster. The lights in the alley casting a soft light in the alley. He opened his eyes to be greeted with the lights starting to flicker, a hooded figure down the alley.

A hooded figure stood before him, his cloak covering his entire body. He was tall, but very slender. "What do you want?!" Cardin shouted. The light flickered off, revealing nothing but pitch black. The light flickered back on, to reveal nothing. The alley was empty. Was he going insane?

The lights flickered back on. Cardin scrambled away as the hooded figure was on top of him. Nothing discernable could be seen from the shadow hood

"I offer salvation and revenge." It said. Cardin looked at it. It was a tall and lanky being. The cloak covering almost all vestiges of its human characteristics. Underneath the hood was what Cardin thought a Grimm mask, but all charred and blackened. "Wha-Wha-What are you? White Fang?"

The hooded man cocked it's head almost like an animal trying to understand human speech. "No. We are beyond their understanding. I offer you a chance to save yourself. Will you take it? Will you take control of your life and judge those who have wronged you?"

Cardin looked at the man. He wasn't going to jail today. He would have his revenge. Anything was better than jail.

"Yes."

It produced a thin hand in black leather.. Cardin took it. "What do I call you?" He asked the robed man.

"Tarce." The gravely voice replied cold as a black swirling portal opened.

* * *

Pyrrha woke up, but to be honest she didn't get any real sleep. Quietly she reached for her scroll, hoping for an update, hoping for anything, there was nothing. The sun wasn't even out. She dragged herself up from her bed, swinging her legs out of bed, resting her head on her hands, looking at the ground. _Come on. Pull yourself together. Jaune wouldn't want to see you like this_. It was hard, though.

Yesterday was rough. Incredibly rough. It wasn't the same without Jaune. She knew that Yang and Ruby tried to keep her mind off of it. They trained together, they ate together, they studied together, heck they even played a board game, but it was too no avail. Pyrrha couldn't help but wonder how Jaune was doing; if he was going to wake up…. _When._ She mentally corrected. However, Yang and Ruby knew that she was hurting.

Of course, she tried to act normal with them. She tried to enjoy herself, but it was difficult. She looked over at the two siblings. They were sleeping contently on their bed. Yang sprawled out on her bed; blanket tossed haphazardly over her. Ruby, above her, was curled up into a red ball, snoring lightly. Pyrrha smiled at the two. They were such great teammates. She was blessed to have them as teammates, and now their family was together, something that warmed her heart.

Pyrrha stood up, feeling slightly on edge, decided it was probably better to get some training done. She quickly put on battle attire and grabbed Milo and Akouo. She found the campus of Beacon during this time to be rather empty. Most likely everyone was still asleep. She made her way to the arena, discovering it was empty, she set up droids on a firing range.

She took out Milo, mechashifted to its rifle form. She looked down the sight, lined up the crosshair with center mass and released a three-round staccato. Three rounds, three hits, barely any spread between the rounds.

Then something came over her, something dark. Something that was buried away the past two days. Something that she buried over a long time ago.

She pictured her assailant as one of the droids. Her heart started to race, brow becoming increasingly furrowed, through gritted teeth she started to unleash a vicious barrage of bullets. The droid fell to the ground sparking as she continued to fire into. Realizing that her gun stopped firing, without thinking she mechashifted Milo into its javelin form and threw it at another droid, impaling itself with such force that the spear ripped tore the droid's head off and impaled it to the wall with the spear. She extended her hand out, touching Milo's magnetism and ripped it out of the wall, the droid's head thudded to ground with a metallic clang.

*Thud* *THUD* Thud*

The floor shook, Pyrrha jolted upwards. The last time she felt that intense of a vibration was with that Grimm they encountered during initiation. She took Akouo and headed towards the arena where the thuds were coming from.

There in the middle of the arena was a flash of red and black slicing through droids left and right. The sharp arcs of red and black sent droids flying at blinding speeds towards the walls of the arena. Pyrrha tried to see who or what it was.

The red and black then shifted to blue and black. Blue arcs slashing towards the droids, each one being sliced in half vertically or diagonally, deadly splinters being propelled by arcs. The graceful arcs then whirled around sending out a one final blue wave was sent flying slicing and freezing everything it came to contact. There was a Raven holding her odachi outward, a new red blade tip pointing outward. She quickly whirled around; tip pointed at the redhead. Her eyes widened with a bit of surprise, as she instantly lowered her blade.

"Pyrrha? What you're doing up this early?" She sheathed her blade in one fluent motion as her eyes remained locked with emerald eyes. Pyrrha stepped into the arena looking at the precision slashes, each slash, precise.

"I wanted to get some training in." She stepped over another droid.

"At four in the morning?" She didn't sound convinced one bit as she looked down at the redhead, arms crossed. .

"Well then what about you?" Pyrrha quickly deflected the question..

Raven shrugged giving a small smile "I never needed to sleep much. I figured it would be easier to get training in before teaching classes." Her smile faded, "I didn't get the chance to see all of you. Our meeting with Ozpin took longer than expected. I meant to check up on all of you."

"Thanks." Pyrrha said curtly. Normally she would have been happy seeing Raven. Now though, she just wanted to get whatever she was feeling out.

Raven looked at the girl sympathetically. "Pyrrha what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

She moved closer placing a hand on her shoulder, giving a reassuring squeeze. "It's Jaune isn't it." Pyrrha didn't say anything. She didn't need to. "Well if we're here, you want to spar, it's been a long time. We don't want you to get rusty." Pyrrha nodded, pulling Milo and Akouo as Raven unsheathed blade, pulling a red dust blade.

They took a few steps back from one another and began to circle one another. Pyrrha held her shield out sword behind, eyes locked onto Raven's.

Raven held her sword outward, tip pointed down at the floor. Raven looked into her protege's eyes. She noted something in them; an all too familiar look. Pyrrha lurched forward shield outward as Raven swung upward which met her shield. Pyrrha lunged with her sword which met with nothingness. Raven spun out of the jab, leaving Pyrrha's side exposed. With a heavy heart, Raven's knee slammed into the redhead's side before she could react, sending her tumbling back. The redhead gritted her teeth, mentally bashing herself for being so careless. "You left yourself exposed." Raven shook head in disappointment. _Her emotions were getting the better of her,_ the older Huntress thought to herself.

"I know." Pyrrha growled as she assumed a low stance. They continued to circle around one another. She dashed at Raven. Crimson Wing crashing into Akouo over her head while Milo jabbed which was easily dodged by the more experienced huntress. The two backed off again and crashed into one another, Raven taking the offensive, using the reach of her longer blade to keep Pyrrha on the defense. Fierce red arcs slashing through the air, each had the potential to do some serious damage. Pyrrha mechashifted her sword into its javelin form. She managed to ward off the arcs and with her spear. She tried to focus on the blade that swung in the air with lightning speed.

She used her shield to as the last line of defense. "You have to go on the offense." Raven remarked as she continued to dance around the redhead, slicing and dashing around her. The speed of her blade crashing and clashing filling the room full metal clangs and crashes as metal met with dust blade. Raven shook her head. _She needs to get her head on straight._ Raven noted disappointedly as her red eyes caught a mistake. The redhead's leg stuck out, which Raven took advantage of, she swirled around feinting an upward slash as she leg swiped at her exposed leg. Pyrrha crashed into the ground. Raven leveled her sword at Pyrrha's neck. "You're letting your emotions run wild."

Pyrrha grunted and got up on her feet. "Again."

"If you wish." Raven nodded, a tone of almost sadness overtaking her as she assumed her position again. Pyrrha leapt going on the offensive. Jabbing as fast as she could. Raven swirled, ducked, side stepped, and dodged as if a ballerina dancing with a partner. Pyrrha kept on offense as if a wild animal, wildly striking jabbing, swiping at anything exposed. Raven was amazed at the girls ferocity. The older's huntress blocked and parried her protege's strikes. "You're letting your anger get the better of you." She said as she continued to block the spear and shield bashes.

Pyrrha grunted in response. Raven shook her head in disappointment, Pyrrha jabbed forward, extending her forearm. Raven dropped down grabbed her arm and whipping Pyrrha over her shoulder. The redhead crashed into the ground with a loud thud. Raven quickly pressed her boot on her neck. "Pyrrha, don't let your anger get the better of you."

 _She thinks I'm failure._ The redhead's eyes narrowed at the thought. She could feel it eat at her. _No._ "I'm not angry. Again." Pyrrha spat out. Raven frowned shaking her head, pressing down gently. _No. No No._

"Pyrrha, I think we're done…" The victorious Raven didn't get the thought off.

"NO!" Her hands glowed as she flung Raven up in the air in neck breaking speed by her metallic boots. Raven quickly crashed into the ground. "Raven I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to…" Raven sat up, slightly dazed. She nodded approvingly with a faint smile as she dusted herself off.

"Not bad." She collected her sword and resheathed. "However, you need to work on your anger. If you could have done that in the spar, you would have no doubt have beaten me." Pyrrha thought she heard a hint of pride.

"I doubt that." Pyrrha hung her shoulders low. She still felt bad for lashing out like that. She went over to pick up her own weapons and sheath them on her back while berating herself for her outburst.

"You give yourself too little credit." She placed a hand on her shoulder as she walked by over towards the stands. She pulled out a small bag. "Pyrrha you have great potential." She said warmly as she sat down pulling out a water bottle and tossing it to the redhead. She patted the bench beside, welcoming her to join her. Pyrrha did so, taking a swig out of her own bottle as Raven gulped down her own. "You fought with emotion. A lot of it. I could feel it." Pyrrha remained silent, fidgeting with her hands.. "What's on your mind? You know you can talk to me." She looked over the young huntress in training with a great amount of concern.

Pyrrha looked at the ground, tossing the battle around in her hands. "I-I let Jaune down." Raven nodded, understanding all too well what that feeling feels like. "I've always protected him when we were kids. I stopped a bully from beating his face in, I saved him from Grimm, and heck I even saved his mother, and the one time I'm not there, he almost gets killed. If I find the bastard who did this." Her bangs covered her face as leaned on her legs, but there was mistaking the cold, distant hatred that the experienced huntress knew.

She crumpled up the bottle in her hand. "I'll kill them."

Raven took off her gloves, placing them beside her. She wrapped her arm around Pyrrha and dragged her in. "Pyrrha. I don't want to lecture you, but what I'm going to say, you need to listen, and listen carefully." Pyrrha nodded as brought into caring embrace. .

"Hate is a terrible thing. Yes, it does give you strength temporarily, but at what cost? It changes you, it eats at you, it turns you into something you can't recognize. That's not the worst thing though. You push away the ones you love. They see you as a monster, as something different, something to be feared." Raven voice became more distant more detached "Trust me… I know all too well."

Pyrrha looked at her mentor, her friend, her family. "You can also come back from it." Raven snapped out of it looking at those two emerald eyes.

"Maybe. I just don't want you to go down the same path I did. You need to let go of your anger, don't let it eat at you, it only gets worse. Alright?" Pyrrha nodded slowly, thankful for the advice. Although following advice tends to be even more difficult. "If anything, and I mean anything is wrong or you need to talk, you know I am more then willing to listen. You are family after all." It was Pyrrha turn to hug back.

"I know. Thank you Raven..." Raven smiled running her hand through the redhead's hair to soothe the distraught girl. After some time she broke off the hug as she stood up, offering a hand to Pyrrha. "Go on, get some sleep, you look like you need it."

"What about you?"

Raven shrugged, collecting her bag. "I need to start prepping for class. I'm new to this whole 'teaching' business." Pyrrha could tell she was a little on edge for that.

"I'm glad you're here and things are going well for you." Pyrrha gave a warm smile.

"Me too. Now get. You're wasting some valuable sleep time. From what I hear Ruby is an early bird."

"You have no idea." Pyrrha chuckled.

"Actually I do, She got that from her mother." Raven smiled, shaking her head slightly in fond remembrance as she walked away.

* * *

 ***BEEP….. BEEP…. BEEP….. BEEP…..***

Two eyes opened to a harsh bright light. Why does everything hurt? Can't feel arm. Half of the room was dark in his right eye. _Odd_ , Why couldn't he see out of his eye. He tried to sit up as his body convulsed by sheer pain. He collapsed back on his bed, his side and stomach protesting fiercely. _What the hell happened?_

Someone was in the room. He could hear shuffling around him, the sound of paper being sorted with. "You're awake?" The figure approached to reveal a rabbit faunas in a medical uniform said. "Just take it easy, you were pretty banged up when you got in here. Jaune tried to talk but nothing came out. The only thing he could do is blink. "I'll go notify your friends."

After a few hours of waiting around, he heard the door open up. Click clack click clack of familiar armored heels could be heard. "Jaune!" Pyrrha loomed over him, very aware that contact could send him in pain.

"Hey Pyr..., what's up….?" His voice croaked out

"Jaune…. Don't even." Pyrrha warned, her eyes started to water. Two days now of waiting, dwelling.

"Blondie you had her scared." Yang voice could be heard as she walked over to the opposite side of the bed.

"What happened Jaune?" Ruby asked as she plopped on the foot of his bed..

A single person flashed in Jaune's memory. Cardin. "Cardin." He whispered as he propped himself up ever so slightly so he could see the room, ignoring the pain that shot throughout the entirety of his body. He looked over her to see that his lifelong friend was not happy. Not happy in the least bit, In fact her fingers were dinger into her palms. Ruby looked like she was scared puppy dog, it was actually cute to see her like that, However, her sister was another story. He looked over to see Yang whose eyes were fiery red as she popped her knuckles

"We should have beaten the shit out of them when we had the chance." She said through gritted teeth, which Pyrrha nodded in agreement.

"It doesn't matter now." Ruby chose to be the voice of reason. "He's missing, and his team is facing some serious charges for aiding in an attempted murder."

"I would still love to shove my foot up his ass." Yang hotly retorted.

Jaune reached out grabbing Yang's hand that was resting on the rail of his bed, granted something his body hated him for. She froze looking at him. "It doesn't matter now. He's on the run, he'll be found. I'd rather him get in trouble then my team." None of this fell unnoticed by Pyrrha.

Yang let out held in breath, steadying her nerves. She quickly cooled off as her eyes turned back normal. "Yeah I guess…" Jaune let go as Yang made her way over to the table "You mind?" Jaune shook her head. "Sweet." She grabbed the cup of jello and started to eat the limey goodness.

Jaune focused his attention Pyrrha who was eerily quiet and not in a good way. At this point she sat in the chair cross legged, tapping her fingers on the chair, her shoulders sagging lower and lower. He knew without a doubt that she was in deep thought. He could almost certainly guess why. "Pyrrha, what's up."

"I don't… You were… please… I don't want to see you like that ever again." She couldn't look at him, the feeling of defeat too much "I'm so sorry." She quietly pleaded. "I should have been there….. I just.." Her voice was getting shakier and shakier. "I… l… I…. "

He reached out touching her hand. "Pyrrha, look at me." She slowly looked up, the hurt, the guilt in her eyes, her face was almost earth shattering, something that was always so bright and happy, now defeated, depressed. It was horrendous, and he promised to prevent that. "It's not your fault. You can't always be there to protect me. What happened, happened; you can't dwell on it. Alright?" Pyrrha nodded slowly. "If it helps, I forgive you even though there is nothing to forgive." He squeezed her hand.  
Now come on, something so beautiful can't look that sad. It wouldn't be fair to the world.  
 _Wait. Did I just really say that._ Well it worked, it made Pyrrha give a small smile..

"So what I miss?" He asked, eager to be caught up.

"Well, we had our night out…" The older red head said, trailing off realizing that she left him behind in this condition. She felt her hand squeezed by an iron tight grip. "It's fine." He reassured.

"We went to the bakery! We got you a bunch of cookies!" Ruby chimed in, glancing at Pyrrha and Yang. "I kept their greedy fingers off of it." She said as she gave them deadly warning.

Jaune chuckled, "Well when I get out of here, I'll be sure to share with all of you." Yang and Pyrrha smiled graciously hearing the prospect of eating more of those delightfully delicious cookies."

"We also went to see the new Spruce Willis movie. When you're all better, we'll go out and see it. My treat." Yang offered cheerfully which made Jaune smile. "Thanks, I'd love to."

"We also tried Mistralian food. Rather spicy." The Mistralian spoke up which caused Jaune to cringe, he never did like spicy food.

"Sounds fun." Everyone turned to be greeted by a tall woman wearing a black and red armored kimono, her red eyes filled with surprise, with a smile on her lips. Behind stood a doctor who moved up to Jaune's bed and picked up his chart

"Well , I'm not goin to sugar coat it, but you're lucky to be alive." The doctor eyed the blonde over the clipboard

"I'm sorry, but what happened?" He asked for everyone in the room.

"The weapon you were hit with was using black dust." The doctor clarified.

Jaune raised his eyebrows, he's never heard of black dust. "I'm sorry, but I'm not following? What is black dust?"

Jaune lost color as he looked over to Pyrrha who shared the same exact look. "Your parents were hit with the same thing but with a more refined, potent type.." Raven spoke up gravely, smile fading away.

"Is that even legal?" Jaune looked at Raven for an explanation. Something like that just seemed so wrong on so many levels.

"Technically, no one should know about it. It was first discovered in Atlas and has been classified top secret, yet it seems it found it's way into Vale." Her tone shifted darkly as she noted Yang staring at her questioningly. "Best not to ask honey." Yang crossed her arms pouting. "I'd have to kill you all." She said noting everyone's jaws drop. "It was a joke…." She deadpanned.

To be honest, Jaune wasn't satisfied by that answer, but it would be best if she didn't dwell on it. "So who found me?" Jaune asked, trying to change the subject. His lifelong friend answered "Blake."

"So when can he get out?" Ruby asked the doctor.

The doctor looked at Jaune inquisitively. "How ya feeling sonny?"

"Like I got plowed over by a semi." He chuckled with a grimace of pain.

"Stay the night so we can watch over you, your Aura should heal the rest. We want to make sure the Black dust doesn't have adverse side affects or limits your Aura regeneration.."

"That means team JYPR is having a movie night." Ruby exclaimed.

"Awwww yeah!" Yang gave his sister a high five.

The doctor shook his head, eyes wide with surprise and shock. "No way, I didn't-".

"Doctor..." Raven warned menacingly looking down at him, her hand reaching for the hilt of her sword. The doctor cleared his throat "Yes well keep it down." He sighed as he left the room muttering "Branwens…."

Yang moved to hug Raven. "Thanks mom."

She patted her daughter's back with a fond smile. "Any time, I just want all of you to be happy." The warmth in her voice almost sapped away Jaune's aches and pains. He gestured for Raven to come forward. She broke away and moved closer to the injured blonde.

"Any change in Crystal's condition?" He whispered.

She frowned, shaking her head "No, I'm sorry."

Jaune nodded grimly which everyone took note of. "Why don't we get this thing started." Yang suggested trying to lighten mood.

"Sure." Jaune agreed.

"Aunt Raven, are you going to stay?" Ruby asked innocently looking at the Huntress.

She shook her head "I wasn't planning on staying-". She looked into Ruby's puppy eyes, the same ones that Summer had. Damn, she was good. "Ohhhh fine." She relented,

"Can you get Dad and Qrow too?" Yang asked almost pleading.

Raven rolled her eyes with a smile. "If we run out of food you can blame Qrow." She took out her scroll and dialed her brother.

"Qrow, what are you and Tai doing tonight?" She asked innocently.

"Getting ready for tomorrow's class…." He sounded suspicious, as if something was amiss.

"No, bring Tai to Jaune's room, and bring a bunch of junk food."

"But…." He started "You don't eat junk food….. And I got a lot of work. Can't this wait…" He was cut off.

"Just do it." She said darkly as she hanged up. Everyone looked at her as she shrugged. "What? It works."

* * *

Qrow Branwen approached Jaune's hospital room with a mild amount of weariness. He trusted his sister of course, but when she gave such simple and direct instructions he couldn't help but feel a little nervous. He was however pleasantly surprised to open the door and see not only that Jaune was awake, but that his team was there with him. A quick look around led to him finding a small table, upon which he and Taiyang dropped off several bags of assorted junk food before turning to Raven.

"Okay," Qrow began. "What's going on?"

Unexpectedly Raven wasn't the one who answered. It was Ruby who energetically dashed forward and responded. "We're having a movie night!"

Taiyang looked around dumbly. "A movie night?"

"Yes, a movie night." Raven responded while motioning at Ruby. "It was her idea that we do so to keep Jaune company over the night."

The two adult men looked at the youngest girl in the room before both gave a small smile. "You know Runt," Qrow said proudly. "That sounds like a great idea. What movies are we watching?"

Ruby crossed her arms and hummed in thought. "Well, all I have are Disney movies. Is that okay with everyone?"

A small moment passed before everyone spoke up and gave their own confirmation, almost all at once. Qrow then got up and started passing around junk food to everyone while Ruby went back to her dorm to grab her movies. A couple of minutes passed in relative silence as the occupants of the room chose to simply enjoy the company that they had before Yang spoke up.

"Jaune," the blonde began. "What's your favorite movie?"

"Sleeping Beauty," the boy in question answered without even hesitating.

"Oh? You want to wake up your princess with a kiss?" Yang teased. Making Jaune sputter slightly before coughing lightly, causing Yang to hastily apologize. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you."

"No worries Yang," the blonde boy responded kindly. "I can't expect you to change who you are even if I'm all banged up. I actually appreciate that you haven't changed how you treat me."

Pyrrha walked up and placed a hand on Jaune's shoulder. "While that may be true Jaune. It is also true that we should be trying to help you recover, and not doing things that might hurt you." She shot Yang a look.

Jaune sighed slightly at Pyrrha's response before looking at the three adults in the room. Qrow simply shrugged in response, while Taiyang motioned towards Pyrrha as if to say she was right. Raven gave him a kind smile and said, "I trained you to be a huntsman Jaune. Part of being a huntsman is recovering, and allowing those around you to recover." She finished that comment with a light glare towards her blonde daughter.

Yang opened her mouth to respond, but just at that moment the door opened and a walking bundle of energy flew into the room carrying a rather large pile of movies. "Okay everybody," Ruby said excitedly. "What movie are we going to watch first?"

"Sleeping Beauty," the older sister responded, causing the youngest girl in the room to start bouncing in excitement.

"We get to watch my favorite first?" Ruby asked with joy evident in her voice. "That's so amazing!"

"It's your favorite movie too?" Jaune asked raising an eyebrow, clearly surprised. "May I ask why?"

"Well," Ruby said while fidgeting slightly. "I've always wondered what it'd be like to be the prince fighting their way through the castle to save the one they love."

Jaune chuckled lightly at that. "I can actually see that."

"Well if you're ever fighting your way through a castle, I'll be there to help." Pyrrha said as she walked forward to give the younger girl a small hug.

After that the group put the movie in and sat down to watch the movie. They all stayed relatively quiet as most of them were focusing on the movie while a select few were focusing on eating as much junk food as possible. After the first movie ended a second was put in and started, and then a third, and then a fourth. Though by the end of the fourth movie everyone but Raven was asleep.

The mother and teacher looked around the room with a caring smile. Jaune was asleep on his hospital bed. Snoring ever so softly. Pyrrha was asleep at the foot of his bed her arm laying across his stomach, and her head resting next to his side. She was turned to face him rather than the movie. Yang had fallen asleep while fighting her uncle over the junk food. Even asleep, they fought for the junk food. They were both asleep in the corner wrapped protectively around their stockpiles of food. Taiyang had fallen asleep with a small content smile near at the back wall.

Raven looked down to the youngest girl in the room. The girl who was currently cuddled up against her with the girl's arms wrapped around her. Ruby was the first to have fallen asleep. She and Raven had chosen to sit in the middle of the room. The silver eyed girl had just as much energy as her mother but she also crashed just as hard, she was out like a lightbulb by the second movie.

The older huntress was surprised by the fact that the young Rose developed such a strong attachment to her so quickly. She just couldn't wrap her head around it.

At first she was shocked when Ruby started to lean in toward her. It was something so out of place for Raven, and Ruby no less. Well, the shock was only amplified when Ruby pulled herself into Raven and wrapped her arms around her which made stiffen up like a board. However, without thought or understanding, she found herself loosen up as she wrapped an arm around the red reaper. The teacher had been ready to carry the little Rose over to her father when she heard the faintest of whisper of "mommy" slip past the younger girl's lips.

Raven had always been one for putting up walls around herself. Not only for her sake but for the sake of others. Few things actually were able to break through those walls, but family was definitely one of those. "Mommy?" That was something that she couldn't comprehend. How could this kind hearted, lovely little girl become so attached to her? It was just unfathomable. She sat pondering this for awhile in the dark as people fell asleep one by one.

She was no Summer Rose, she could never live up to her memory. She couldn't be the mom that Ruby and Yang deserved. She wasn't Ruby's mother, but damn it, she needed one, she needed the comfort of one right now. _Summer, I don't know if you can hear me up there, but I swear, I swear to you, I swear on my own life that I will treat Ruby as my own blood. She will be my daughter. That, I can promise you._ She exhaled slowly as Ruby stirred ever so slightly. Ruby's words melted Raven's heart and removed any shock she felt as she listened to Ruby's lightly snoring by her side. The raven haired mother looked over to see the Ruby smiling ever so contently.

She felt herself growing tired. Feeling content with everything, she finally surrendered herself to the sleep that everyone else in the room was enjoying.

* * *

 ***Undisclosed Location***

"Are the sleeper cells in location?" The charred nevermore asked the group sitting around the oval table

One of the figures stood up. "Yes sir, security measures have been taken into consideration."

"Excellent and have we started work on Project Purity?" The man asked

"Yes sir, merging will start in the next couple of days. Our subject has been indoctrinated." Another man reported. "It was rather easy to break his will."

"And production of Black dust?" The man asked.

A man in white hair and blue eyes stood up. "We have been begun full scale production. Shipments will be sent at expected areas. We have raised the price so even the Atlesian government can barely afford it."

The charred nevermore stood up as he walked over to the white-suited man. "Brothers, I would like to introduce our newest inductee" He handed him a white nevermore mask.

The white dropped to his knees, accepting the mask with reverence. "My life for the Old Ones."

* * *

 **A/N**

 **So I'm just going to that Shaded is bossman supreme. We all need to clap for him, join me my friends *clapping***

 **Shaded: Why're you clapping?**

 **Sauron: Cause you're just amazing xD.**

 **Hey guys! New chapter! Things happened huh?**

 **Sooooooo….. Pyrrha can get pretty angry huh? Letting her own emotions get to her. That might happen if you dealt with all the stuff she has throughout her whole life. Poor Pyrrha, I don't like an angry Pyrrha. Well at least Raven was there, she seems to have experience that only life can provide. Hopefully she can talk some sense to the Pyr.**

 **Jaune is alive! Woooooo! But with some bad news…. Ohhhh and a new dust type? Black Dust? That sounds pretty iffy….. We should keep an eye on that stuff huh? I mean something that can cut right through Aura…. I wonder how it was discovered or created….**

 **I'm getting super side tracked but didn't think Jaune was a disney type. *Shrugs* ohhh well… but a whole team bonding with (S)TRQ? Yeah I think so. We need some happy in here cause ya know…. Raven and Ruby…. Huh…. seems to me that Ruby found a new friend and Raven is just becoming a regular softy (as much as a badass killing machine that could break any moment could be…)**

 **And no good Legion up to something…..**

 **Hey if you liked the chapter, let us know! Leave a review, follow, pm, fav. It all helps and is appreciated. If you have questions, thoughts, reactions, predictions, critiques, opinions, and any and all, please leave a review or pm. We love them and stuff!**

* * *

 **REVIEWS (I'm digging this new format… yay for being lazy lol)**

 **ArtanisRose: Heyyyy buddy! How have you been!? I know… Legion is being a real pain in the butt. I wouldn't say that… I think Salem would appreciate their support… heck even support it. Thanks for the review though!**

 **Patleon: PATLEON! How's it going? Ozpin has a secret Rancon Pit? Sheesh I knew he was secretly the Emperor….. Being all calm and polite…. It was a front!**

 **Glad you liked the chapter. Trust me that whole Raven and Yang thing, I had scrap that several times and redo it (Previous versions were just harsh… even for me…) Arkos? Me? Nahhhhhhhhh *smiles innocently* I have no idea what you're talking about….. *wink* Thanks for the review though mate! Always a pleasure.**

 **Ken Wise: Hey buddy! How's it going? Thanks for the review. Took a break from it lol? Glad you enjoyed the chapter.**

 **Trust me, I'm hoping so too, let's just keep our fingers crossed. As for Volume 4 (without spoiling anything.) I'm digging it. Hoping to see some Raven…. And well more Pyrrha…. xD**

 **Overdude: DUDE! What's up! I wouldn't say it's quite a thing, but I appreciate it. *bows while slapping Shaded to bow too.***

 **As for your theory: and I thought I misplaced my mace….. Gosh… Cardin is a bully and a thief….. *sigh* What's this world coming to?**

 **Goddy: Glad you enjoyed it, hope you like the next one!**

 **Till next time peeps.**


	28. Beacon 9:Getting in the Groove of Things

**Chapter 28: Getting in the Groove of Things**

 **ONE MONTH LATER**

Getting back into a routine was hard after having a few days off. Granted it was for the recuperation of their team leader, which she didn't mind. It took some time for the new teachers and class to get orientated, but now things were in full swing. However, Taiyang's class caught her by surprise, sure Raven trained them to become hunters, she was taught in using Milo and Akouo. She also received a little hand to hand combat training, but this…. this was something else entirely.

An armored gauntlet came swinging around as Pyrrha ducked down, hoping to shove her own fist into the unprotected belly of her opponent. She sent the fist flying only to miss. The blonde whirled out of the way sending an elbow to the back of the head. She shook off the stun, swiping at the leg of her opponent causing him to leap over the strike

This was the gap she was looking for. As he came down, she repositioned herself and lunged at him, grappling him by the waste and tackling him down to the ground with a thud. Pyrrha quickly subdued her opponent's arms with her armored greaves. "Give?" She asked holding a fist up in the air, ready to bring it down.

"No way." Jaune muttered confidently With all of his might, he rolled over causing his redhaired friend to tumble over to the ground. He scrambled over to her as she tried to recover. Reaching out, he grabbed her foot, only to be met with a swift kick to the face by the other armored heel which caused him to yelp in pain, losing his grip. He rolled away, scrambling to his feet as she got on her own.

The two slowly circled each other slowly, both low to the ground, hands up defensively. Pyrrha lunged forward swinging around, launching a powerful side kick. It connected, but not with his unprotected side, but with his forearm as he grunted from pain at the blow connected as he lunged at the redhead, pinning her to the ground.

The lights turned on. The muscular blonde with messy blonde hair and stubble stepped forward clapping. "Well done both of you! All I can say is that if you infused Aura into some of those blows, you may have ended the fight earlier. Keep that in mind next time." Jaune nodded as he got up to his feet, handing a hand to his partner who accepted.

He gestured to Pyrrha. "Never get cocky. Most fights can be ended by just subduing an opponent, don't give them time to formulate a plan."

"Thank you, sir." She replied with a warm smile.

The two walked back to their seats Jaune leaned into Pyrrha. "You did great." Jaune complimented quietly.

"You did as well. Sorry about that kick to the face." Pyrrha chuckled as the two sat down beside their teammates.

"How's the face." Yang laughed which received an elbow from Ruby. "You two did great." Her smaller sister complimented.

"Let's do….. Blake Belladonna and Lie Ren." Taiyang announced as the two ninja-like huntsmen made their way down to the arena.

The two stoic members of the team slowly circled one another, low to the ground, hands at the ready as they dashed forward. The raven haired girl left several clones behind, which Ren disregarded as he seemed to keep a laser lock on his team leader.

After several quick bouts of intense swipes, kicks, blocks, and parries. It looked more like a dance than an actual combat. "Sheesh, They're really going at it?" Yang noted as she watched the blurred images.

Another image of Blake appeared as she leaped up into the air. Ren smirked he launched a powerful kick only to be met with air. The normally calm boy widened his eyes to discover that the image of Blake wasn't moving was no reaching for his arm.

She grabbed and threw him down to the ground, bringing a knee down the oriental boy's throat. A horn beeped as the lights came up. "Thanks for a good fight." Taiyang stepped forward gesturing to Blake "Note how she was able to shift strategies, using her old strategy to fool Ren." He gestured to Ren "Ren, put up a good fight. He was able to predict his opponent's moves, but in the end, he was fooled by the same old routine. Nice try."

The two students went back up to the stands as two more students were called down.

"Nice fight Blake. You really gave Ren a run for his money." Jaune complemented the raven haired girl as she climbed back up to her seat.

"Thanks, to be fair, he was quite skilled." She smiled at the compliment. The rest of the time, the teams watched the last fight mild interest.

"Alright, that'll do it for now. You guys can have the rest of the time." Tai waved them off as he left the practice room at the ring of the bell.

"Welp off to Aunt Raven's class." Ruby said cheerily as she stood up leading team JYPR followed by BRWN.

"You know you can call her Mom, I mean technically... she is your stepmom…" Yang remarked casually, throwing her hands behind her head walking down the hallway.

"I know that…. It's just I don't know…" Ruby pulled up her hood, avoiding the gaze of her sister as she sped away, fidgeting with her hands. Pyrrha could feel the tension, the soreness in the subject for Ruby.

At that, the team didn't say much. "Sorry." Yang muttered as they made their way to their seats. Students kept filing in as the raven haired, crimson eyed teacher stared at them with her naturally cold and distant eyes. For people who didn't know her, yes she was a ruthless huntress who didn't show emotion, in the classroom, it only got amplified. However, those who know the true Raven, know that it was just a front.

"Class." Her tone harsh and unforgiving, made everyone instantly drop all conversations and sit in their seats. "Who do we consider an enemy?"

Nora raised her hand which earned a head nod from the teacher. "Grimm." Her usual cheeriness gone.

Raven nodded as she sat on her desk. "True…. Anyone else?"

Blake raised her hand which earned a nod from the teacher. "Terrorists and extremists." The introverted leader answered.

Raven nodded. "Anything else?" Raven asked. The room fell quiet, not understanding what else there was. "Think outside of the box." Everyone looked at each other, still not getting it. Jaune and Pyrrha looked at each other. Pyrrha eyes widened which caused Jaune to nod. Pyrrha raised her hand. "Go ahead Pyrrha."

"Perceived threats…?" Pyrrha answered hesitantly, which made Raven smile ever oh so slightly.

"Perceived threats…" Raven muttered to herself. "Threats to what?" She asked again, drumming her fingers on the desk.

Weiss shot up her hand. "The Kingdoms." She responded confidently.

Raven bobbed her head up and down as if pondering the answer. "Alright….." She thought out loud. "So what if you have family in one kingdom, and friends in another. What if these two kingdoms go to war? Are you willing to fight against your family or your friends? Weiss, can you make that call? Which side would you choose? If asked to fight against your team? Could you do it." Weiss shrank down, withdrawing her hand, looking deflated.

Jaune snapped his hand up in the air which earned him a head nod. "Perceived threats to yourself, friends, or family. Ultimately it's up to the huntsmen to decide who they protect."

Raven snapped her fingers with a larger smile. "Exactly. There will be a natural inclination to help those you care about first over others; there is nothing wrong with that, it's only natural. However, if helping, say, your family means the deaths of thousands of people, can you live with that consequence?" An eery silence hung over the classroom as she scanned the room. "As huntsmen, you need to be able to make split second decisions that could affect a great many people."

She stood up from her desk as she held up one hand in the air, "As we know, the Grimm are black and white, they are inherently evil and must be destroyed. Simple as that." She lifted up the second hand. "However, humans are when it gets tricky. There will always be a gray area with them. What if killing one person saved ten thousand? What if that person had a family, what if that person was a child? Could you do it?"

She paused a moment looking at the class. "Who could do it? Raise your hands." She scanned the room, noticing that no one raised their hands.

The room was eerily silent as everyone looked at one another. That was one loaded question. A choice between duty and family, weren't they just children? "What you are experiencing is the quick decisions that everyone needs to make. Remember, each individual has a family. Do you take on humanity's natural enemy or the threats close to you? Honestly"

She went over to the chalkboard, starting to write something on the board. "I have a situation I want all of you to think on. Say you are protecting a town that is experiencing a riot. The riot is going to result in the deaths of civilians, but because of the negative emotions, it attracts a horde of Grimm. What do you do? Do you save the town from Grimm, leaving the civilians to fend for themselves or do you try and stop the riot, leaving them exposed to the Grimm attack."

She turned to face her class. "I want you to decide what is the best course of action. As huntsmen, you will be faced with difficult choices. I want a two-page paper by tomorrow. You're dismissed."

Yang looked her team muttering "Woah…. That was kinda really depressing." as she rested her rested her head on her hands with a frown

Ruby patted her on the shoulder reassuringly. "Well, it is Aunt Raven after all…."

"Yeah… I know… it just like it felt like she was speaking from the heart, from personal experience."

Pyrrha nodded absently, her eyes fixed on the question. "She was speaking from experience." She could see the blonde girl look at her somewhat questioningly. "I really don't know much, but she was speaking from the heart, you could hear it in her voice, as much as she wanted to cover it up, it was starting to come out."

"You three should be getting to work." Jaune told them. "And yes Pyrrha is right." Yang pulled out a piece of paper, but she couldn't write. She wanted to know everything about her mother. How such a strong individual was forced to leave home. Was she willing to sacrifice the world in order to make sure her family survived? Is that what a huntress is?

* * *

Jaune leaped from tree to tree, sticking to the shadows. The sound of the airgun echoing through the forest.

*Pachink*

"OWWWW!" He could hear Nora scream in the woods. That meant he was getting close. He climbed the tree of a canopy only to be met with Ren.

"Hello, Jaune." He whispered.

"Hey Ren" He grunted as he climbed the last branch. "Nora got hit. He's nearby."

*PACHINK* *PACHINK* *PACHINK*

Ren's eyes went wide, as he brought a finger in between his lips, Jaune nodded.

"Ren, Jaune. Come out, the exercise is over." Jaune looked questioningly at Ren who shook his head. "Come on guys. The exercise is over. Your class is all here." There was an eerily silence in the woods, with the occasional bird chirping, the rustling of leaves, branches snapping. Wait branches snapping. Jaune looked up to see a smiling Qrow with a high powered airgun.

*PACHINK* *PACHINK* Two shots rang out as Jaune felt two high-powered slugs slam into his face, causing him to lose balance and fall to the ground with Ren crashing down beside him. "You're out!" He cheerfully called out as he jumped down from the canopy from the tree, landing in front of Jaune and Ren, with a large smile. By then the rest of the class caught up with them. "So class what did we learn?"

"That you don't miss." Weiss rubbed the back of her head.

Qrow smirked. "Not quite, Ice Queen."

"Hey!" She protested glaring at the teacher.

"Next!" Qrow called out.

Blake raised her hand. He nodded to the raven haired girl. "Stick to the shadows."

He cocked his head in thought. "Yeah…. Nope. You guys are missing the big picture." He shoved his hands into his pockets, leering down at his students, his friendly demeanor instantly shifted. "That scenario should never have happened to begin with." He raised his thumb up "Rule number one: Don't get caught in the wilderness, by Grimm or otherwise." He stuck his index finger out. "Rule two: Stick to the shadows, use your environmental, and most importantly, think like your enemy. You think like them, you know how to get away from them." He looked over at his students who looked like complete and utter garbage. "That'll be it for today. Get going."

* * *

Team JYPR staggered back in their room. "All of these classes-" Jaune muttered as he collapsed on his bed. "Are going to be the death of me."

"Ohh come on! Qrow's wasn't too bad!" Ruby pouted as she sat on her bed.

"Speak for yourself." Her sister muttered as she rubbed her head. "I got pegged in the head with a high-powered riot dispersal gun." She muttered as she went to the bathroom, slamming the door shut.

Pyrrha sat on the end of Jaune's bed nodding approvingly. "Your uncle is a great shot."

Ruby got from her bed and made her way over to the kitchenette pulling out her favorite snack, shockingly, chocolate chip cookies. "Mhmm" She agreed with a mouthful of sweets.

Pyrrha couldn't help but to think back on earlier today. The happy Rose wasn't too happy after Mr. Xiao-Long's class and that really bothered the younger redhead. "Ruby, do you mind if I ask a question?" Pyrrha looked at her questioningly

"Shoot."

"I don't mean to be prying, but why what was that… earlier with Raven?"

Ruby swallowed, her smile quickly fading away. She plopped on Yang's bottom bed. "I don't know. Don't get me wrong, I love Raven, she's great, but I just don't know. I don't wanna make Yang mad." Pyrrha felt someone stir underneath her. She glanced over to see her partner sitting up, looking at her inquisitively.

"You don't want to take Raven away from Yang?" Pyrrha guessed, looking at his fellow teammate who swaddled up in her red cloak. A sad Ruby nodded. Pyrrha noted the door crack from the bathroom, she could make out Yang watching. Pyrrha raised her eyebrow, but Yang a brought a finger up to her lips.

"I had my mom, but Yang never had her's, she just had my mom. Seeing them back together… I just... I don't want to get in the way. Yang deserves some happiness that I had." Ruby reasoned out loud, the more she continued the more she was sounded defeated, saddened, as if reliving some missed memories. She flopped on her bed, looking up at her own dangling bed. "I don't want to get in the way of those two."

"I don't think Yang would see it that way." Jaune reassured her. "I think she would be happier if you did."

"Ehhh I don't know." She placed a pillow over head as if to hide from the discomfort. "Besides, I don't think Raven would want me to call her that…. It just seems off. I mean I also feel bad, I don't want to feel like I'm replacing my mom. "

"You know Rubes, Our moms were really close friends." The bathroom door opened up revealing a serious Yang drying her hair with a towel as she walked in more casual clothing. "I don't think Summer would mind, you know who your real mom is, and she will always love you, but I don't think she would against you. Raven knew I called Summer mom, and I call Raven mom…" She sat down beside her sister draping an arm around her sister giving her sister a warm smile. "I think both of them would like it."

Pyrrha and Jaune looked at each other both sharing a grin. It was good to see their family slowly start to build itself back up. It was good to see how the two sisters grow even closer, which already seemed. Impossible. Yang looked at her other team members. "As far as I'm concerned, you two are also family. My mom and Uncle Qrow obviously care about the two of you." She waved a hand at the two of them Pyrrha stood up, pulling the blonde up off his bed. The four teammates at that moment became a family.

"Hey I'm hungry. Anyone wanna grab some food?" Yang asked breaking away from the hug to which everyone agreed as Jaune pulled out his scroll.

He pulled up Blake's number and sent a real quick question: _Hey wanna bring your team to dinner with us?_ Pyrrha looked at him questioningly which he acknowledged. "Just wanted to see if Blake's team wants to join us."

"That would be grand." She said humbly with a pleasant smile.

Jaune felt his scroll vibrate in his hand. He looked down to see Blake's response: _Sure._

* * *

*BEACON PROFESSOR DORMITORIES*

As much as Taiyang loved teaching, he absolutely hated grading. To him, it was just the largest waste of time that he could ever go through, thankfully though, he didn't have to wear a tie as a combat instructor. However, he still had to grade papers as a combat instructor, it was odd to him but wasn't his place to question what Ozpin expected of his staff.

The living space he was given wasn't too bad. It consisted of three rooms, a large common which also served as the kitchen, the room with a table, a few chairs and a daybed. Off to the side was his bedroom, and the other room consisted of the all important bathroom.

He moved towards the table dropping his bag with an impressive thud. He undid the latches and pulled out the binder. He was content here. Don't get him wrong, he missed Patch, he missed it dearly. It was where he lived all his life. With Raven….. the thought made him frown, with Summer…. He could feel his throat tighten up. It was apart of him, it helped define who he was. Leaving felt like a nightmare, like he lost a part of himself. It was something too hard to bear.

With Raven showing up, and actively seeking to come back into the fold, to return to her family, it added even more shock. Yes. he felt guilty that when his first wife left, he fallen in with Summer, but when she died in that attack… he felt like the world was ending. If it wasn't for Qrow, he didn't know what he would have done. Sink more and more into depression? Drink even more, forcing his own children away? Heck even take his own life? He lost two loves of his life, what more could he lose?

Then luck or fate behold, his first wife returned only to bring back the pain of her leaving. Now though, she seemed to be here to stay, for good or bad. Of course Tai was against it at first, it was hard for Tai to accept her, but deep down, he knew that she had the best of intentions. She always did to the point it was fault, but seeing her bond with Yang like that, seeing how Ruby naturally become closer to Raven. He was ready as well.

She had changed in some ways, always tense, always ready for something, constantly watching her back, always ready to pounce on something, but she still had the temperament, the resolve, the loyalty, the strength that he had fallen in love with.

*KNOCK KNOCK*

He went over to the door and opened it to see the grin of his old partner and colleague. "Hey buddy!" He slid past Taiyang and straight to his kitchen. "How was teaching today?" He asked as he rummaged through the cupboards.

Good… HEY!" He closed the door annoyed by the sudden intrusion and raiding of his own food. "You know there is a cafeteria right? Heck you have your own food."

Qrow reared his head while pulling out a bag of chips. "You sound just like Rae." He gave a light hearted scowl.

"Well maybe I wouldn't have to if you didn't keep coming back and stealing all of _my_ food." He sat down at the table taking a pen as Qrow sat on the counter. _Note to self, clean that immediately._

Qrow chuckled as he popped open the bag. "Well maybe you should eat it first." With that Tai could only shake his head.

*KNOCK KNOCK*

Taiyang let out groan as he slumped in his chair. Qrow plopped off the counter and headed towards the door, opening it revealing her sister. "Rae! Come on in! You can help eat all of Tai's food." She shook her head wordlessly, moving past her brother.

"Hey Rae. How was your day?" Tai mumbled glaring at Qrow as he stuffed his face with a handful of chips.

"Rather productive. I would ask how yours was, but Qrow seems to have answered that for me." She ripped the bag out of his hands. "If you're going to eat his food, eat the food he won't eat."

Qrow crossed his arms pouting realizing what that meant. "That's all the healthy garbage, though." Raven shrugged as she put the chips back into the proper spot and whipped an apple at her brother who reluctantly caught lest it ended up applesauce all over his face. She took her own apple, biting down in with a loud crunch.

"So are you nervous at all?" The blonde male brawler asked his partner who was cringing at the apple.

"Nah. It'll be an easy job, It'll be just like a vacation while you two can deal with classes."

His sister rolled her eyes scoffing. "Still lazy."

He clutched his heart in mock hurt. "And to think I welcomed you into my humble abode! You throw insults at me." He looked over to his blonde partner. "And I was the one to bring her back into modern society."

She shot him a warning glaring with a rather harsh punch to the shoulder. "Shut. IT."

Qrow held his hands up defensively. "Sorry!"

Tai cleared his throat to gain the attention of the two siblings. "Qrow you should be taking this seriously. This conference could have major implications." Qrow straightened himself up and crossed his arms.

"I know, trust me. I'm not going to let any of you guys down." Tai smiled at his sincerity. "Well, I should start packing. I let you two lovebirds alone." He smiled as Raven and Taiyang just stared at him blankly as he closed the door behind him.

"Did he just really say that?" Tai muttered himself confused. Raven could only nod.

The door creaked open to leaving an all deadly serious Qrow glaring at Taiyang. "No funny business with sister Tai."

"GET OUT!" They shouted simultaneously which caused him to slam the door. The two remaining adults busted up laughing.

"Gosh, I swear he's still a child…" She managed as she wiped her eyes.

"He hasn't changed one bit." Taiyang settled himself. After the laughter had settled down, the two looked at each other questioningly as if they had more to say.

"Rae, you can move in at any time, but please don't feel rushed." He reassured her.

"I don't know…. I just feel like…. It isn't right with Summer and with Ruby…" She trailed off, looking at the floor. The usually confident and ironclad woman had her chinks in the armor.

"I think Ruby likes you…." He paused for a moment. "Really likes you, and I know that Summer would want you to be happy."

"I don't know…." She looked away, feeling the sudden pressure of guilt from being happy with her spouse that was married to her best friend.

"If it makes you feel any better, we were in the same boat… but we wanted Yang to have someone…." She raised a hand to cut him off.

"I know, I don't blame either of you, In reality, I owe her a great deal."

"You can start paying that back by making yourself happy." Taiyang assured. She let out an exhausted sigh.

"Yeah, I'll think about it." She said as she opened the door. "Have a goodnight." She said with a small smile, looking back at Tai before closing the door.

* * *

"Thank the gods it's Friday!" Jaune exclaimed with a smile as he walked happily down the hallway.

"So what are we going to do?!" Ruby asked excitedly. "We could play Remnant the board game!."

Yang rolled her eyes. "You always win… it's no fun…." Which caused her sister to stick out her tongue.

"Well we got two new people to play, who knows! They could beat me." She glared at the taller redhead and her partner "If you beat me, I will end the both of you."

"With that kind of determination… I don't see how you could lose." Pyrrha tried to give a reassuring albeit nervous smile which seemed to satisfy the smaller the redhead.

"Dang straight." Her tone was almost overconfident.

Jaune snapped his fingers. "You know what!" He exclaimed as he jumped up from his bed. "Ice cream! I need some good ice cream!"

The three girls stared at him as if he were a genius. They all started to get change out of their school uniform, preparing to go out on the town. Once everyone was in their casual attire, they headed towards the airdocks.

Pyrrha noted that Jaune was lagging slightly behind as Ruby and Yang were too busy chatting. She slowed her pace walking with him. "What's up Jaune?" He tried to give her a reassuring smile which was instantly shot down with an expectant look in her emerald eyes.

"I… just kinda miss home." Jaune said as he looked up into the sky, marveling at the shattered moon. "I…" He let out a saddened sigh. "I... miss Crystal."

Pyrrha nodded, understanding all too well. Then something popped in her mind that caused her to smile. "Well.. why don't we head home for the weekend."

He gave an almost incredulous look as if she were nuts. "It's so far away…." He stopped, looking at her. "Ohh! I'm an idiot."

"We'll ask her first thing in the morning," Pyrrha suggested which earned an excited nod from Jaune.

"As usual Pyrrha coming up with the greatest ideas." Jaune teased, causing Pyrrha to smile, cheeks slightly reddish.

"Come on, it's been too long since I had Teaberry." Pyrrha suggested, quickening her pace apparently everyone else heard as they started to make gagging sounds. "Hey…. it's good…." The redhead muttered.

Her blonde companion shot her a toothy grin. "Don't worry Pyr, you're our special oddball."

 **A/N**

 **Oh my…. We're back from our rather long nap. All I can say first off is Merry Belated Christmas and Happy Belated New Years xD. Second off, I feel the need to apologize for the long hiatus. School was kicking my butt, and I didn't have the time I wanted to right…. And I was also being extremely lazy…. And sidetracked with other stories xD**

 **Good news we've got a backlog of I think four or five chapters. Don't know a release schedule, it'll happen when it does, but don't worry it won't be like a month.**

 **So let's get into it.**

 **To be honest, I felt a little iffy with this chapter. I just wanted to show that people were getting into the groove of things, teachers and students. It has been a month since Jaune out of the medical ward, month since TRQ started to teach.**

 **I also wanted to dabble on the rather complex and unique relationship between Ruby and Yang with Tai and Raven. Naturally Ruby would feel somewhat hesitant, she doesn't want to feel like she is encroaching on Yang and the relationship she is trying to build with her own mother. (Yes, I know we haven't seen any, but we will.) I don't know if properly illustrated that or not, but we'll see.**

 **Also, Team BRWN, and specifically Blake, will be playing a rather important role soonish.**

 **Next time, we have the Summit between the four kingdoms to discuss the issue of rogue huntsmen and a rather tense political situation. As usual… the Legion is up to no good!**

 **Announcement 1: So guys it's been awhile, I know I left this in Forlorn, but I'll say it here one more time to make sure I remember. We've been hinted at the motivations and type of character Raven is. My Raven is different, she was created before the concept of Volume 4 Raven. There are no plans to change her character. So if you like my Raven, don't worry, she isn't changing.**

 **Announcement 2: So some of you know is that I stream on occasion, I was forced not to by local hometown internet, but school is starting up in less then a weak now (Scary!) which means so will my streams. Feel free join me on twitch, I play a whole bunch of games and fail miserably at all of them. I mostly do strategy and some shooters such Hearts of Iron, EU4, Halo, Battlefield 1, Dark Souls, and League, to name a few.**

 **Feel free to join me on twitch by searching for lordxsauronx15. I would love to hang out and relax with some of my readers! Stop by, grab a snack, watch me fail at stuff and laugh, we can talk about anything. I'll have the occasional guest like Shaded or Blacsparrow show up. Love to see all of you there!**

 **Announcement 3: Please leave a review or a pm. It helps me gauge what you guys think of the story. It allows me to see what you guys think and how I can improve my writing and story. Outsider perspectives are always welcome if they are done so in a polite and meaningful way. No flame please. Also…. I just really love to hear from you guys! So please, if you had reactions, predictions, thoughts, questions, criticism, feedback, any and all, please share!**

 **Rewviews! (been awhile huh….)**

 **Patleon909: My firend has been way toooooooooo long! No comments on Cardin, but we haven't seen the last of him lololol.**

 **As for Pyrrha's angry side. You're absolutely right, she is out of character. The way I look at it, all the literal crap she had to deal with growing made her have a temper, and she has always had a temper streak when it came to the people close to her, especially Jaune and the Arcs. They took her in as an orphan, raised, looked after her, and treated her as one of her own. So if someone beats the living crap out of one of them, Pyrrha is not going to have any of it. The way I made this Pyrrha is that she is still the kind hearted girl that is still shy (for other reasons) who has temper. Hope ya can understand. Don't worry she won't be all doom and gloom. As for coming back to haunt her? Guess we'll have to see. Hopefully you liked the chapter!**

 **Goddy: *Shrugs shoulders* Who knows xD Hopefully you enjoyed the chapter.**

 **Xander501: Hello my friend! Glad you liked the chapter!**

 **OverDude: My man! How have you been! I'm just going to sit here and nod my head and try to prevent laughter. Hope you like the chapter**

 **Mata Nui: Hello my friend, I'm back. I keep up to date on all the RWBY episodes, so far I think it's alright a little too short for what they are trying to do for the season, but alright in general.**

 **Thanks for reading, truly appreciated!**

 **-Lordxsauron**


	29. Beacon 10: The Summit Part 1

**Chapter 29: The Summit Part 1**

The lights switched off, being replaced by the glowing red of emergency lights. The vibrations of the engine stopped as Jenkins slammed a fresh clip into his dust powered assault rifle. The commanding officer, Erwin stood up as he gripped the safety railing. "Alright guys. We've been asked to help support the Atlassian security force in this sector. We'll be having Knights and Paladins as backup, but don't let that get you soft."

Jenkins gripped his gun even harder. The protests were getting even nastier when the Hunters had shown up. He could feel the sweat underneath his gloves.

"Remember, we're here to keep the peace. Keep a cool head."

The hissing of the back doors popped.

"However, you have the right to defend yourself."

Jenkins' leg trembled uncontrollably as he brought down his hud visor that was attached to his helmet. Erwin placed a hand on his shoulder. "First mission?" Jenkins looked up at the commanding officer.

"Yessir." He nodded hesitantly.

He felt a strong hand pat him on the shoulder. "This'll be a walk in the park. The hunters here have been rather peaceful." Jenkins nodded as the ramp descended. Jenkins stood up as he rushed down the ramp as he could here his commanding officer shouting orders as soldiers rushed down the ramp.

He looked around, scanning his surroundings. A barricade was set up surrounding the summit building. He noted how there were several vehicles with soldiers rushing out. Paladins shored up the gaps. He could see a great many people on the other side of the barricade. Whether it be ordinary humans, faunas, huntsmen and nonhuntsmen. Some of them were chanting slogans, others were carrying banners, signs. He could make several people standing, who looked heavily armed. He could feel their eyes staring right at him.

He heard a rumble of a vehicle approaching, slowing to a stop, the vehicle's door opened up to reveal a more elderly man in black and green attire who walked with a cane. He looked over to Jenkins, pushing up his glasses and giving a small smile. He noted a blonde woman wearing a purple cape carrying a riding crop who walked one side of the elderly old man. On the other side was a younger man with slicked back black hair and piercing crimson eyes.

He felt something tap his helmet. It was his commander. "Eyes on the crowd." He stared at the crowd. Jenkins nodded and assumed his position along the barrier. He noted a huntsman staring right at him through orange hair that drooped down past the eyes, his almost glowing with an intense red. Suddenly the air felt extremely cold as he gripped his rifle even tighter.

* * *

The flight to Menagerie tired Qrow as he walked to through the door. He looked outside seeing hundreds of people, huntsmen and non-huntsmen, behind the barricade. Maybe they did have a chance to convince the kingdoms.

Armed guards stood at attention as they entered the rather exquisite hotel. As a man in a white uniform, black hair that was graying along the sides.

"Ozpin." The man stepped forward.

Ozpin smiled as he embraced his friend. "Ironwood."

Ironwood. Oh how Qrow hated Ironwood. The man was arrogant, prideful, and self-centered in Qrow's opinion. The audacity of daring to claim two council seats, that of the military and head of Atlas Academy. He was quick to submit the school under the military's jurisdiction to consolidate his power.

Or that was what Qrow had seen. Ironwood held his arms out towards Glynda who just rolled her eyes while she crossed her arms. "You haven't changed one bit," Ironwood said amusedly with a slight chuckle in his voice. Inevitably, Ironwood attention shifted towards Qrow.

"Qrow!" He slapped the huntsmen on the back. "How've you been?"

Qrow rolled his eyes as he squirmed away. "Fine till just now." The edginess in Qrow's voice only made him smile even more.

"Now that pleasantries are done. If you'll follow me." Ironwood gestured with a slight bow. The three from Vale followed the Atlassian through the Summit building. Qrow didn't like it in the least bit, too much open space, too many windows, a sniper could easily do something. The four of them stepped onto the escalator. "I see that Menagerie has seen major improvements with Summit being announced," Ozpin noted looking outside of the large glass wall take in vast Summit Complex which held modern hotels, embassies, academies, and residential areas.

"We needed neutral ground that wasn't affiliated with any of the Kingdoms. Menagerie seemed like the ideal spot. It also improved the locals' way of life." Ironwood noted casually as he stepped off the escalator followed by his three guests.

Qrow looked out the window to see hundreds of angry, upset Faunas and Huntsmen chanting, waving signs. Good thing the building was sound proof. _A shame, though._ "You call moving hundreds of faunas off their land improvement?" Qrow muttered through gritted teeth.

Apparently, Ironwood overheard. "It is…. Regrettable, but yes. It had to be done. This is for the betterment of Remnant."

Qrow stopped in his tracks. "You call this improvement." Everyone stopped turning to face the huntsman who pointed a finger at the massive irate crowd. "You took the only place where Faunas had the right to govern themselves and turned it into a damned colony sponsored and funded by Atlas!"

"That is a lie." Ironwood stepped closer to Qrow "This was interkingdom operation. Everything you see here was supported by all the Kingdoms, considerations and compensation were given to the Faunas, but we needed an area outside of the four Kingdoms."

Qrow was seething angry right now. "Ironwood you aren't fooling anyone. The money pulled together for this little 'project' was done with Schnee backing. All of those troops are either Atlassian or being commanded by Atlassians. You just needed the other kingdoms to justify-" He jabbed his finger into Ironwood's uniformed chest. "Your expansion. So don't tell me that this was done in order to better the lives of the Faunas, that's bullshit."

"Qrow," Glynda warned.

"That is enough." Ozpin tapped his cane on the ground forcefully as it echoed throughout the building making the two men look at the headmaster. "We can settle this matter later. We have more pressing matters such as this Summit." He turned to look at Ironwood.

"I need to know if you are going to support the Kingdom or the Huntsmen."

You could see the conflict in the eyes of general and headmaster. After a few minutes, he looked at the Ozpin. "I'm sorry, but I need to support my Kingdom. As much as I want to help the huntsmen, I am sworn to serve Atlas."

Qrow rolled his head in astonishment. "You're sworn to protect the people of Remnant as a huntsman!" He shouted.

Ozpin held up a hand silencing his tirade. "That is enough Qrow. We know Ironwood is in a unique spot."

Ironwood wavered for a moment. "I'll do my best to help your cause as much as I can, but if I'm asked to choose, I have to choose my Kingdom."

Qrow was about to retort when Ozpin cut him off, looking down at him. "We understand James. Of course, we wouldn't want to force to choose between your kingdom and your… profession." Qrow shoved his hands in his pockets biting his tongue.

"If you'll follow me to the council room." Ironwood gestured. Ozpin nodded following. Glynda waited a few moments walking beside Qrow.

Something that Qrow did not need right now. "Glynda, I don't need a lecture right now."

The Blonde huntress shot him a cold glance, something that Qrow just rolled his eyes to. "I'm not here to lecture you. You're absolutely right, and Ozpin knows it as well. But we need to take a more diplomatic approach."

She was right, always right. "Yeah." He muttered as he followed behind Ozpin where they came across their destination. Ten soldiers, five on each side of the door lined up saluting. Where they here to protect the summit or to make the huntsmen get out of control?

* * *

 ***BEACON***

"Are you sure we're even allowed here?" Pyrrha asked as she followed Jaune, looking down the hallways making sure the coast was clear.

"I don't see why not. I mean it's a part of the campus." Jaune waved off her concern as he continued down the hallway.

"But we could get in trouble…" Pyrrha insisted as she closed the distance, walking side by side with Jaune.

"Pyrrha you worry too much, and besides who would catch us…"

"Me." A voice called out from behind. Jaune and Pyrrha froze. Yup, this is what Pyrrha was afraid of. They turned around to see the muscular blonde brawler in his typical leather tan hide jacket. She gave her lifelong friend a jab in the side with a sharp elbow causing him to "Epp!"

"So what are you two doing over in the teacher quarters?" Taiyang asked suspiciously eyeing up the two huntsmen in training.

"Uhh…. going for a walk?" Jaune raised a finger unsurely. "Yes! Going for a walk!" Tai shook his head disapprovingly.

"Try again."

"Going to see Raven," Pyrrha spoke up.

His lilac eyes narrowed. "Oh? And what for?" His tone filled with suspicion.

"Indeed. What for?" The said woman almost materialized out of nowhere causing everyone to jump back as the older woman smirked.

"R-R-Rae!" He stumbled in surprise clutching his racing heart. "I told you to stop doing that! You could give me a heart attack." She shrugged nonchalantly with an ever growing smirk.

Pyrrha took a small step forward. "We don't want to cause any problems." Jaune stood by her side.

"But we were wondering if there was any way Raven could drop us off back at home. We wanna see." He glanced over at his red-headed friend briefly. "Our sister."

Raven tapped her chin as if deep in thought. Pyrrha looked over at Jaune who had the same worried expression. What if she said no?

"Do you have passes?" Taiyang asked, he didn't sound too happy.

They needed passes? That wasn't covered in orientation…. Pyrrha thought to herself. She should have suspected this. And here was Jaune thinking it would be a walk in the park. "Don't worry about it." Their mentor said finally with a reassuring smile. "I got it covered, unless a certain someone decides to say something to Ozpin…." She shot a look at Taiyang.

He held his hands up defensively. "I'm not going to say a word. Besides you know that Ozpin pretty much knows anything that happens." He placed two reassuring arms around each of the huntsmen in training. "I heard what happened. My sympathy goes out to your family. They were truly great people that didn't deserve this tragedy."

"Thank you, Mr. Xiao-Long." Pyrrha nodded in appreciation.

Tai let out a chortle, patting the redhead's shoulder. "Please, outside of class, just Tai, you're family after all."

"Thanks, Tai," Jaune said as the older blonde nodded in appreciation.

Raven shook her head, smiling. She won't lie, she was surprised at his willingness to accept the Arcs so openly. The fact that he considered them family was something that Raven couldn't describe in words. It was simply amazing that he could be so open. Sure he was initially angry at the fact that she had spent so much time with the Arcs, but after explaining it, he finally understood and even welcomed them.

The older huntress turned and walked off gesturing for them to follow. Jaune and Pyrrha followed behind with a Taiyang covering the rear. She opened the door to reveal her room which was spotless as if no one lived there. She walked if headed into one of the rooms. When she reemerged, she came out with her sword. "Ready?"

Jaune and his life long companion nodded simultaneously.

Quickly and effortlessly, she unsheathed her blade slicing into the air creating a swirling black and red portal.

Taiyang's jaw dropped as the portal swirled before him. "Ya know, I'm never going to be able to get over that," Raven smirked and moved up to the older blonde, wrapping her arms around him.

"I'll be back in a bit." She smiled warmly making Jaune and Pyrrha raised an eyebrow towards Jaune as if asking. _You think they're a thing now?_

He nodded ever so slightly _For sure._

Pyrrha smile only grew larger. _She deserves it._

The older woman broke away as turned to face her adopted children. "If you say anything, it'll be the last thing you say."

Jaune and Pyrrha gulped as the older woman walked past the two of them, rustling their hair.

* * *

Qrow hated stuffy big wigs; he always did, he always will. Politics bog everything down. It prevented things from getting done, and if anything, it helped those who would see the world burn. Just by holding everything up.

"I'd like to call this meeting to order," Ironwood said as he took his seat at the head of the table. The Valesian delegation sat opposite side of the general while Vacuo and Mistral sat on the other sides.

"Have we been given the authority to act on our perspective kingdoms behalfs?" Ironwood asked to which everyone nodded.

Qrow was already getting sick with where the this may be going "-that being said, we are here to promote prosperity and cooperation between the four kingdoms."

Qrow slammed his fist done on the table causing everyone in the room to shift their attention to him. "By putting an end to the huntsmen guild!"

"It was your guild that almost caused a war between two kingdoms!" The government ambassador from Mistral roared at Qrow. "Your damn schools are a breeding place for anarchists and rebels! You can't even control your own students! We heard about the runaway who almost killed another. Ozpin is letting anyone in these days!" His gaze quickly shifted to Haven's Headmaster.

"And you… You allow your own students to be brainwashed by fanatics and terrorists. Thousands of people paid for that."

"All because of a Mistralian…. I don't see why you need you drag Vacuo or Shade Academy into this." The Vacuoan ambassador muttered under his breath.

"It was your school that trained one of the most notorious rogues out there. Don't forget, we know you trained Adam Taurus…. And Tarce Grinbol. Don't forget how he almost caused the destruction of all of our kingdoms. The very same Tarce that was trained in Vacuo!" The Haven Headmaster venomously shot back.

"That Team STRQ took out, with Raven Branwen killing the man outright." The Valesian Ambassador chimed hoping to settle things down.

"At what cost?!" The Haven headmaster asked incredulously. "STRQ leveled a quarter of the city. Or have you turned a blind eye to the wanton destruction that Ozpin allows in his school."

"ENOUGH" Ironwood slammed his fist down on the table earning silence in the meeting room. A meeting of kingdoms, a meeting of equals, Qrow scoffed, more like Atlas demonstrating its dominance. "Whether we like it or not, there has been a rise of anarchists coming from the academies. Whether we like it or not, Atlas has barely seen any due to more…. Oversight and control."

"SON OF A…." Qrow stood up as Ozpin reached to up to yank him down on the ground.

"Whether we like it or not.." He glared at Qrow. "We have proof that more government oversight leads to less anarchy and freelance hunters. With more accountability and a clear and cut chain of command, we can limit the threat of these freelancers, terrorists, and mercenaries pose on the stability." He clasped his hands behind his back as he started to pace around the room. "We can also promote unity between the kingdoms by eliminating confusion and misunderstandings that different cultures can cause." The headmasters shook their heads in disagreement besides Haven Academy. "We can now create an organization that is designed to keep close tabs on the huntsmen guild. We will be able to sort out those who mean to do harm with those who deserve to help humanity."

 _Sell out_. _He's too weak to stand up against Ironwood._ "Atlas already has a plan in place." Ironwood went back to his seat tapping his scroll. Qrow felt his scroll go off, a message from the Ironwood. "In here, you will find the plan." Qrow opened the message, quickly scanning through the content.

 **Collective Charter**

 **Section 1: Kingdoms will have a quota of men to send to this organization.**

 **Section 2: Men will be commanded by other members from different kingdoms to promote unity and cooperation.**

 **Section 3: Collective enforcers will be used police and maintain control over combat schools and huntsmen academies.**

 **Skipping a few sections to the Huntsmen expectations, his eyes widened in anger as he looked Ironwood.**

 **Section 41: Huntsmen will give up their huntsmen license and must resubmit for a Collective license or will be charged with treason.**

 **Section 42: Huntsmen will be subordinate to Collective officials and officers or face charges of treason.**

 **Section 43: Collective officials have the right arrest huntsmen or huntsmen in training if they are deemed a threat to peace and stability.**

He read enough. "You sell out! HOW MUCH IS YOUR KINGDOM PAYING YOU TO BETRAY YOUR BROTHERS?!" Qrow roared as he slammed his fist down on the table cracking the table. The doors to the office slammed open revealing four guards all leveling their guns at Qrow.

Qrow whirled around to see red dots aimed at his chest. "STAND DOWN," Ironwood ordered. The soldiers hesitantly lowered their weapons as they slowly walked out of the room. "Qrow. Another outburst like that and I'll have you escorted off the premises, with force if necessary."

"You pompous pig, don't you see you're opening all of us up to the enemy if you go through with this?"

"What enemy?" The general looked skeptical.

"The Legion of Ash. Have you forgotten all of those massacres so long ago?"

"They're dead. The kingdoms have wiped them out." Ironwood waved off his concern. "We are here to prevent another group like them from rising again. Their last cell came from Beacon's Team JAWS."

"You fucking dunce." Qrow slapped his forehead. Ozpin stood up intervening pushing Qrow down into his chair. "The leader didn't die at Whitehill." Ozpin cleared his throat making the Huntsman shut up.

"Gentleman, you'll have to forgive my colleague." He shot a glare at Qrow. "He is... overzealous at times. He, as well as the rest of the headmasters, are afraid that oversight takes away the most essential aspect of being a huntsman; Freedom. Freedom to pursue any enemy, freedom to approach a mission, freedom to be creative. We're walking into dangerous territory. Oversight is taking steps backward, to the Great War, we are taking one of the huntsmen's unique tools, the ability to operate outside of the chain command to save lives and protect loved ones. This Collective may help to lower crime, but if our enemies find a weakness, it leaves all of us exposed. Freedom is what will protect us."

Ironwood tapped his chin in thought. "Headmaster Ozpin is not wrong. However, say a huntsman goes rogue? How many innocents? How many soldiers have to die before they are stopped? They are some of the most experienced warriors that Remnant has ever seen, one is worth an entire battalion of soldiers. Even with the current system, huntsmen are too slow or too easily corrupted. The Collective offers us a way to screen out potentially dangerous huntsmen and efficiently eliminate them with precision.."

"Huntsmen with lapdogs?!" The Shade Headmaster protested. "This is ridiculous." Qrow could only nod in agreement.

"What do you mean eliminate them?" Qrow asked.

"By any means necessary." Ironwood casually commented.

"You mean put them down like dogs?!" Qrow slammed his fist down in protest.

Ambassador Mayfield of Vale cleared his throat. "Even so, how do you plan on doing this. As you said, huntsmen are some of the deadliest warriors."

"We have weapons in development that are currently classified. Besides, that we plan to establish our own corps of hunters that will have the sole purpose of enforcing the Collective policy.

* * *

 ***Whitehill***

A portal emerged from the other side as the black and red clad huntress stepped out of the portal followed by her two students. She couldn't but to smile when seeing the quaint Arc home that was a place of temporary refuge throughout the years, thanks to John and Joan. She watched as the blonde Arc knight open the fenced off gate and held it for Pyrrha and herself.

Jaune then latched the fence off and went to the front door knocking. After a few minutes, the door opened to reveal the matriarch of the Arc family. Her brown eyes wide with shock as she scanned the newcomers. Joan brought her hand up to her mouth as tears started to roll down her cheeks. She took a step forward wrapping her arms around her son as she pulled Pyrrha into the hug. "I missed both of you…" She brought them in closer, resting her chin between the two as she closed her eyes tightly.

Raven couldn't help to smile as she stood there crossing her arms, a fond smile overtaking her as she watched the family reunite. She noted Joan's eyes slowly open, still red from the recent tears, lock onto her. She broke away from the hug and stood before the Huntress as they looked at each other.

A lightning fast hand came across connecting with Raven's cheek with a resounding ***SMACK*** Raven stood there stunned. "Why didn't you tell me that you got a job at Beacon.. More Importantly…. WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME YOU GOT BACK WITH TAI." The smaller, slightly shorter Joan glared at her, making Raven terrified of one of her closest friends.

"I… uh…. Well you see.."

Joan wrapped her arms around the stunned Raven. "I'm so proud of you." bringing her into a tight a hug. "I'm so glad things are working out for you." She found herself embracing her friend in return. "You deserve some happiness."

"Thank you." The simple happiness in her voice was too clear to Pyrrha. She couldn't but to smile at Raven's recent upturn. Jaune led the way in the house leaving the two adults to get caught up as Pyrrha followed him in.

"Hello?" Jaune called out through the house. A thundering of footsteps came crashing down before Pyrrha could turn to face the onslaught, she found herself, along with Jaune, pinned to the floor by the youngest of Arcs, Abella, who was hugging… or pinning them to the ground. "I MISSED YOU TWO!"

"Hey….. Abella….." Jaune grunted as he tried to squirm free from her grasp only making the grasp only tighter in response.

"Jaune…. I think you're only making it worse…" Pyrrha whispered causing Abella to hold to them tighter. It was enough for the redhead to break out but this was too endearing to her, and well-being caught off by this was slightly embarrassing.

"Abella. Get off of them…. They just got home." Someone called from the living room, the harsh yet quiet voice made the youngest Arc relent. She loosened her group allowing the huntsmen in training to stand on their feet. "Well then…" Mabel stood in front of them, her brunette hair cascading down her shoulders. She walked over two of them, inspecting each one closely. "Well you both seem to be in good physical condition." She poked a little at Jaune's stomach. "However, you seem to be eating too much junk food."

"Hey! I-" He started to protest as she shifted over to Pyrrha.

"Peak physical condition. Jaune, you could learn something from her." Which made the redhead give a slight giggle as she wrapped her arms around Mabel.

"Good to see you, Mabel. How's school going?" She broke away, holding her by the shoulders.

She smirked. "Top of class." Pyrrha nodded approvingly, Mabel had always excelled in school, an admirable trait. She always considered herself smart, Jaune could be if he tried harder, but Mabel… she was on a whole other level.

"Where's Catoline?" Jaune asked as rustled her little sister's hair.

"Unfortunately she's in Basic. She won't be home until the holidays." Jaune's smile fell slightly.

Joan and Raven stepped in the house, the black and red clad huntress closing the door behind her. "Hey why are we in the hallway? Come on, get comfortable for a wee bit. I'll make you guys something to eat." At that Jaune and Pyrrha were dragged in by the other two siblings followed by a Raven who was being gently pushed in by Joan. She quickly put her sheathed sword along the wall as she was ushered into the living room.

Everyone got settled as Joan prepared some quick food for everyone. Jaune and Abel were on the floor watching cartoons together while Mabel and Pyrrha were on the sofa, Pyrrha telling the bookworm all about the fantastic adventures of Beacon, specifically initiation. Raven was watching over everyone protectively as she sat on the sofa opposite of the redhead and brunette. She scanned the window, watching all of the comings and goings of the people of Whitehill. However, she couldn't help but to admire the tranquility and calmness in the Arc household.

She couldn't help but to smile at the bonds that everyone had in the household. It was something that she longed for one day, and to her surprise, was getting closer to every day. With that thought, she could rest easy as undid her gauntlets and placed them on the ground beside her. With that, she stretched her arms and legs feeling joints pop as she got comfortable, and eased herself into the sofa, feeling the weight of her eyes slowly become heavier and heavier as she tried to resist, but alas she succumbed to well-earned sleep.

Jaune wrapped his arm around his little sister briefly looking around the room. Raven had quietly drifted off to sleep. Rather surprising to see her asleep, she was always awake around Jaune, but then again, people do need their sleep. He looked over to Pyrrha was happily talking to Mabel. The two always enjoyed talking for as long Jaune could remember. Jaune wondered how long it would take for the two break out a chessboard to play a high stake, high pace game of chess. It was odd to see how the two girls who had never been particularly close, had slowly become the best of friends over the years. He went back to the t.v. watching Abella's favorite cartoon, in Jaune's opinion, a classic. His favorite line from the gullible best friend of the main character was coming up.

"WHO YOU CALLIN PINHEAD?!" Jaune and Abella shouted with mirth along with the show. The two bursted out in laughter as they hugged each other in laughter.

Pyrrha looked over looking at the two siblings as their laughter died down. For a brief moment, Pyrrha grew concerned, fearing that the two would have woken up Raven. She glanced over to see one red eye pop open looking at the two siblings then back at Pyrrha, a small smile overtaking her again, as she closed her eye went back to her little nap. She could help but admire the woman, after being through so much, she can finally take a well-earned rest.

"So what's your team like?" Mabel asked uncharismatically interested, as she sat cross-legged in front of the redhead, resting her chin on interlaced fingers.

"Well…" Pyrrha tapped her chin in thought. "We're team JYPR, with my partner and leader Jaune." Mabel scoffed, rolling her eyes. "He's actually not a bad leader…." Pyrrha whispered. "But don't tell him that… We don't want him to get full of himself." Mabel chuckled looking at her brother with a sense of admiration.

"So what about your other teammates?" She asked leaning in.

"Well… believe it or not, they're both a part of Raven's family." Mabel straightened up not expecting that. "There's Yang" She nodded towards the older huntress. "Her daughter, she has the same temper as her, but she's really funny and kind as well. Then there's her sister, Ruby Rose, whose kinda awkward but in a good way, extremely energetic but also smart and polite. Before you ask, I don't want to go into details about their family" She gestured to the sleeping huntress. "That's her choice."

Mabel nodded, taking it all in. "Do you find it odd?"

Pyrrha cocked her head, not understanding. "I'm sorry?"

"That you found yourself all on the same team. You seem all seem to be connected to the Branwens somehow." She rubbed her chin suspiciously.

"But the process was all random." She tried to reason.

"Yet you end up with the closest person to you as a partner, two sisters who I assume are extremely close. All of you being raised or looked after by her…?" She shook her head. "That seems like too much coincidence."

She wasn't wrong. All of it did seem too coincidental. She wasn't going to argue with it, though; she wouldn't trade her team in the least bit. "So say we were put on the same team for some reason, which still doesn't answer why?"

Before Mabel could answer, Joan walked in delivering plates to everyone. First to Jaune and Pyrrha, Mabel and Abella, she left a plate on the coffee table in front of Raven in case she was to wake up. "Thank you, Mrs. Arc." Pyrrha took the plate and started to eat the sandwich.

Joan sat on the same couch as Raven stretching her legs out as Jaune and Abella turned to face everyone. "So…. uh… How's Crystal been doing?" He asked hesitantly as Pyrrha put her sandwich down.

"Still no improvement…. If it were the mysterious donor…. She'd be…." She trailed off as she looked hollowly off in the distance. Pyrrha noted that Raven had stirred from her sleep taking the mother's hand.

"She'll be fine. I promise." The black and red-clad huntress reassured which made Joan give a saddened smile.

"You're the donor aren't you?"

She didn't answer.

"Raven! No, you didn't have to!"

The Huntress didn't answer.

"Why?"

Raven scanned the room without a word, her eyes darting around the room.. Pyrrha, without thinking, put down her plate and walked over to the huntress which prompted Jaune to follow. Without saying a word, she wrapped her arm around the huntress. As if to convey, _thank you_ , which prompted Jaune to join in, then the rest of the Arcs. She hugged all of them back as if to say _No, thank you._

They stayed like for a couple of minutes until Joan cleared her throat, trying to hold back tears of gratefulness. "Come on, eat, eat. That food isn't going anywhere you know."

Everyone went back to their original spots happily eating away, including Raven. Everyone broke into conversation getting caught up, talking about how simple things, school, grades, and even the occasional love interest. Being separated from family, no matter how long, made you cherish the small things Pyrrha realized as she quietly listened.

Joan went around collecting the plates. "I assume you're going to see Crystal?" Joan called out from the kitchen.

With no hesitation, except looking at Raven who gave a small sharp nod, he answered. "Yeah." He answered back.

"Good" Joan said as she back to the living room holding a small bag. "Would you mind giving this to your father then?"

Pyrrha walked back and retrieved the bag. "Of course not." She answered politely as Jaune stood up. Raven stood up stretching her arms. Mabel and Abella went over wish their siblings a final farewell, giving farewell hugs. After that was said and done, they went over hugging huntress who couldn't help but to smile as she hugged them back, admiring how much they had grown.

Joan did the same thing, hugging both Pyrrha and Jaune. "Pyrrha make sure Jaune is taking care of himself."

Pyrrha couldn't but light-hearted giggle. "... Of course Mrs. Arc. I won't let you down."

"I know you won't." She turned to face Jaune. "And make sure this young lady is staying out of trouble."

"I'll do my best." At that Joan turned around pulled Raven into a hug.

"Raven, I know I don't have to ask you this… and I feel guilty about this… but keep an eye on these two troublemakers.

Raven couldn't help but to return the hug whispering "As if they were my own." Joan held her friend at arms length.

"I don't know how we can ever repay you…. For everything."

A tear ran down Raven's cheek. "I could say the same to all of you." She pulled Joan into a hug.

* * *

Qrow was about ready to snap. At least there was a deadlock. The Valesian and Vacuoan ambassadors were still against the Collective formation. However, that didn't stop politicians from debating all the while the headmasters were actively protesting and being ignored.

"So if the Valesian government watches over their own schools, then the Kingdom won't be opposed to it?" Ironwood asked with a raised eyebrow.

"If the collective is formed, Vacuo will not be a part of it." The ambassador said.

"Unfortunately, we can't let that happen." Ironwood sighed. "This is dependent on all kingdoms, if one decides not to participate, then that could form an intentional or unintentional haven for rogues. Whether you like it or not, Vacuo will join."

"James," Ozpin noted slightly shocked at the bold proclamation. "That would be effectively declaring war… You can't force an independent kingdom to join."

"If you do this, I will make sure all huntsmen stop you." The Vacuoan Headmaster. "I'm done with this. He is no better than the dictators that ruled the kingdoms eighty years ago." He headed out the door.

"Garen." The Ironwood glared at the headmaster. "If you do this…. There will be no turning back, you will sentencing hundreds to jail… even execution. You'll be branded a threat to international security."

"I'm sorry." The Valesian ambassador stood up. "But you cannot force a kingdom to do something against their own will. If you declare war on Vaccuo, then Vale has no choice but to support Vaccuo.

"Atlas has grown too powerful for their own good." The Mistralian ambassador glared at Ironwood. "We cannot support a tyrannical power hellbent on the domination of others."

Qrow heart was about to leap out his chest. Ironwood's plan had come crashing down all around him.

*BOOOOOM*

The earth shook beneath them which caused everyone to freeze. Suddenly, doors were smashed opened revealing a very angry and very rare lion faunas in a pristine white uniform. "Lieutenant Franco, what are you doing here." As soldiers came rushing in.

Without missing a beat, the lion pulled out his bearded ax which seemed to be a pump action shotgun. "I'm here to save your lives." He grunted. "Take the tables and form a "U" around the door. I want all guns trained on that door."

Why did that name sound so incredibly familiar to Qrow. Franco…. Franco….. It didn't matter now, Qrow pulled out his own sword.

"What's going on out there?" Ironwood demanded.

"Sir there is a full-scale riot going on. The hunters are coming."

* * *

There was an eerie silence throughout the crowd gathered outside the perimeter as Jenkins walked along the barricade, rifle at the ready. Most of the protesters were waving their signs, it was relatively a calm affair.

Although this one guy was starting to put Jenkins on edge. The scraggly man kept watching Jenkins. He noted as the man brought his wrist up to his mouth whispering something. Then a grin.

Jenkin's scroll started to Vibrate, he quickly pulled it out and discovered it was a brief ten-second recording of the summit with Ironwood saying "This is dependent on all kingdoms, if one decides not to participate, then that could an intentional or unintentional haven for rogues. Whether you like it or not, Vacuo will join."

He looked up as everyone had their scrolls open. He listened as speakers around the compound proclaimed the same exact words. "Shit." was the only thing he could say. He scanned for the scraggly orange hair man but he was nowhere to be seen. "SHIT." Jenkins called out again. The hollering only grew in intensity and hatred. Some people started to push through the barricades. Huntsmen started brandishing their weapons. Faunas and other agitators started throwing rocks.

Then

 ***CRACKCRACK*** Two large caliber guns went off simultaneously

A rock hit Jenkin's face guard causing to whirl around, leveling his assault rifle at the crowd trying to find the culprit. "Shittttt." He cursed again.

"Shit indeed." A sinister voice whispered from behind as he tried to move, but his body refused to. In fact, he realized he lost control of his body. He could feel his finger moving, pressing down on something. Jenkin's eyes went wide.

His gun opened fired into the crowd causing all the other soldiers to discharge their weapons. He watched as Faunas dropped to the ground either dead or dying as high powered, dust powered, bullets sliced right through them, the huntsmen were fine, but seeing innocents die was something they didn't let slide. He could hear the roars as huntsmen charged the blockade. He could hear the screams of his soldiers of the dying around him, his friends and strangers alike.

 _I need back up at Sector 3_

 _Huntsmen are breaching Sector 4._

 _We've lost control of 6._

"Just so you know. You started humanity down the path of enlightenment this day." The sinister voice said. Jenkins felt a sharp pang of pain as he heard a snap, He couldn't feel his body as everything went dark, collapsing to the ground, the last thing he saw was his comrades being torn apart by huntsmen.

* * *

A/N

Hey guys! Been awhile for this one huh?!

Well let's not waste time, let's get into. The Summit. Atlas has officially supported the idea of an international organization designed to oversee all hunters... did they go a little far with this idea? How many kingdoms will go for it... OH WAIT! That protest? Turned into one bloody riot... Oh and this Collective organization... hmmmm...

And Jaune and Pyrrha seeing their family... touches my heart slightly... slightly... maybe?

I won't lie, I've been pretty writer blocked with this, I apologize with the combination of other stories and grad school... ugh... But I promise the next chapter will be out sooner.

If you guys liked the chapter, please let me know. I love seeing what you guys think. All feed back is greatly appreciated! Please, any and all feedback is greatly appreciated.

Alright Reviews!

OculiImperator: Good to be back in action mate, You should very much get into it!

Xander: Hey mate! Sorry for it taking so long!

Azumaofu: Sorry it took so long mate.

Guest: I'm sorry...?

Doctor Oobleck: Heck man, I love writing! I found a new hoppy. Let me tell you, I love my Raven compared Volume 4 xD


	30. AN Decision Time and Opinion Needed

Alright guys...

So Imma leave it up to you. Recently, I haven't felt satisfied as the author for Shattered. That being said, I need some honest, heart to heart feedback. I'm leaving this A/N because I need all of your opinion.

I will be launching a poll on my account (First one... god help me...) On what you guys think I should do. three options:

1\. A rewrite of Shattered (Yes I know, that this will take a lot of time and committment, but frankly I can readdress some flaws in the beginning of the story and hopefully make it better...)

2\. A rewrite of Chapter 29 (To me this chapter is one of the most significant plot points in Shattered... and I won't lie, I feel like I did a piss poor job.)

3\. Continue on. (We'll grind through it together hopefully.)

Honestly, I'm leaning on options 1 or 2. I would love to rewrite it, but I want all of you to have a say in it because you are the reader, and I care about all of your opinions. The overarching plot points would be the same, but I want to add more scenes and such. However, if that is done, it will set us back tremendously, but for hopefully a better story. Option 2, seems like a lighter point, but it just feels so disconnected to me, The plot seemed to get muddled down quite a bit, so this just like meh.

Option 3, is up to all of you, but I just don't like it to be honest.

That being said, I would love for you guys to tell me what you want to see. So please, take a brief moment of time, fill out the survey. Leave a review, tell me what you liked, what you didn't like, what I can improve on. so on and so on. One thing that will remain, the story will still be focused on the idea of Pyrrha joining the Arc family, Raven and Qrow are still going to be heavily influenced by the story. Teams stay the way they are.

Please leave a review or pm, I'm asking for all of your input, it means the world to me. I want to craft a story that all of us can enjoy. For you to read and for me to write. The pole will be up for a week or two until I feel that everyone has had a chance to contribute input. In the meantime, I will be prepared for any of the three options

I have no idea how a poll works, so please leave a review with you choice in case I messed up the poll, just in case!

Thank you,

Lordxsauron


	31. AN: Poll is up

Alright last A/N for a bit,

The poll is up. Sorry for the delay... FF is being a little funky for me. I apologize for all of the wackiness. Alright got some feedback, if you don't mind, let me know what you think!

Thanks!


	32. Poll results

So I just wen through the poll results...

It seems a great many of you want a rewrite. I'm really conflicted, but I think you're right. Shattered does need a rewrite. Things to be redone, more things hashed out and such.

It is official now, shattered will be rewritten and I'll do my very best. I also wasn't a fan of where the story wasn't going, but the same premise will be used.

That being said, I will start on the rewrite shortly and release another A/N announcing the update for Shattered

Thank you,

Lordxsauron


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